Jinnie from the Block

On Saturday, Angela Stanford continued her improbable run at the title. She is no doubt a decent player, but other than a win a few years ago and a memorable run at the US Women's Open title in 2003, she has not been a particularly successful golfer on tour. Yet she followed her first two impressive rounds with another barnburner, a 6 under par 66 that left her at 18 under for the event. This was a four shot lead over the rest of the field. Things were looking good for her, but it's never easy to sleep on a lead, especially if there are some top players dogging you. At 14 under was Cristie Kerr, who had not yet won in 2006 but was probably long overdue. Karrie Webb and Lorena Ochoa, the top two players on tour in 2006 by a wide margin, sat at 11 under, and could conceivably enter the fray if Stanford faltered.

The Koreans were not faring so well. Rookie Sun Young Yoo had her third straight 69 to move to 9 under, which placed her in a tie for 13th. A top ten was a very real possibility for this youngster, though a win seemed unlikely. Considering that Yoo had missed almost every cut on tour in 2006, a top ten, or even a top twenty, would be a very welcome result for her indeed. Christina Kim, who had also been hit or miss in 2006, was tied at 9 under. A shot further back at 8 under were Gloria and Grace Park and Young Jo. Young Kim shot a 73 on day three to fall to 7 under.

Indeed, only one Korean was anywhere close to the lead, and that was Ji Yeon Lee. Jinnie followed her two great 68s with an even better round, a 5 under par 67 that moved her to 13 under for the event. This was five shots behind Stanford, but only one shot out of second place. For a player who had never had a top ten finish on tour, this was heady stuff indeed.

On Sunday, one Korean player catapulted up the leaderboard, playing so well that she had history in her grasp. That player was Young Kim. Making birdie after birdie, she soon found herself at 9 under par for her day with a few holes to go. On the par 3 16th she nearly made hole in one, stopping the ball just a few feet from the hole. She missed the very short birdie try, though. She also had a great chance for birdie on 17, but again missed. Though she wound up with a 65, the best round of the day, just a few inches separated her from a 61 or maybe even better. She was that good.

Things would go well for Ji Yeon on Sunday, though not as well as they had for Young Kim. Stanford struggled a bit with her nerves, while Kerr did everything in her power to make life difficult for her. By the ninth hole, Kerr had caught Stanford, and shortly thereafter, Stanford had fallen to three shots behind her and in danger of losing second place. Meanwhile, Ochoa charged as she usually does. Jinnie, virtually unnoticed in the crowd, was having another great result herself. Indeed, by the time she reached the 16th hole, she was tied for second at 17 under with Lorena Ochoa, who had just finished her round. Stanford had fallen to 16 under, while Kerr had moved to 19 under and seemed in control of her fate. But Ji Yeon, the non-exempt player who had struggled so hard just to get into fields most of her career, now found herself with a real shot at winning. She would need to pull another miracle out her bag to do it, but it was possible. Consider this: in her entire career to date, she had only rarely shot a round in the 60s. At this event, she already had three such rounds, and was 4 under par at the moment here. It was just her luck that the week she would produce four rounds in the 60s someone would go as low as Kerr was going. But nothing was decided just yet.

Unfortunately, that was as good as things got for Jinnie on the week. She missed a four foot par save on 17, while Kerr made a par save on 16. Kerr missed the green on 17, but was able to get it up and down from a dicey lie. On the par 5 18th, Lee hit a great third shot to about 7 feet, but missed the birdie and had to settle for a 16 under total. In the end, she would wind up tied for 5th after both Angela Stanford and Pat Hurst passed her. But even though that short miss on 17 cost her a tie for 2nd, she still had a great week in Nashville, by far her best finish on tour in three years of trying. With any luck, she'll finally be able to earn the exempt card she has had to go to Q-School each year to acquire. And that would be a huge step forward for this young player.