2006 Wegman's LPGA: JJ's Day

The two biggest highlights of day two were also produced by Koreans. On the same hole as JJ struggled, Soo Young Moon hit her second shot into the hole for an eagle. At first she was not even sure she had holed the shot, but when her caddie confirmed it, she gave him a joyous high five. A little later, Aree Song hit her own hole out from the fairway. Her shot was a short wedge on a par 5 which landed next to the flag, then took a 90 degree turn and rolled right into the flag. It might not have been as far a shot as the one Moon had hit, but in some ways it was more impressive thanks to the spin she put on it. Needless to say, both she and the crowd were quite thrilled by this shot. Rookie Sun Young Yoo did not have anything nearly so exciting happen to her, but her three under par 69 included two eagles, itself a pretty impressive feat.

The cut fell at 2 over par, and several Korean stars, including Birdie Kim and Soo-Yun Kang, missed it. Se Ri Pak continued to play much the same way she had in round one: great tee to green, but problems with her putter. She slightly improved her results from day one, however, and shot an even par 72 to make the cut by two shots. Kyeong Bae, Meena Lee, and Young Kim also shot one over, while Il Mi Chung and Joo Mi Kim shot 2 over and also made the cut. Aree Song finished at 4 under and Christina Kim at 3 under, both ladies still certainly in the hunt for the title.

On Saturday, the final pairing consisted of Shi Hyun Ahn and Seon Hwa Lee. At first, things went pretty well for Shi Hyun; her back did not seem on the surface to be an issue. She maintained her position at 8 under for the first 7 holes, then lipped out a short birdie try on 8 to continue to stay at that score. Seon Hwa was not having so great a day. She was already 2 over par and had fallen to 5 under for the event when she made an 8 footer on the 7th to climb back to 6 under.

The big mover early in the day was an unlikely one. Hilary Lunke had won the 2003 US Women's Open, but had achieved almost nothing since. On this day, however, she carded her career low score, a 7 under par 65, to vault to 7 under total. That wasn't the lead at this early part of round three, however. Jeong Jang had managed to move up to 8 under, where she was tied with Brittany Lang, Shi Hyun, Marcy Hart, Becky Iverson and Silvia Cavalleri. But the leader, at 9 under, was yet another Korean star: Mi Hyun Kim. She moved out of the logjam at 8 under with a birdie on the 8th hole. And still other Koreans were making their presence felt. Hee-Won Han had moved to 6 under, while rookie Sun Young Yoo was in the midst of her own great day and had moved to 7 under. There were six Koreans up near the top of the leaderboard, each with a chance to take the trophy. No wonder the locals began referring to this edition of the Wegman's LPGA as the 'Korean Open'.

Shi Hyun Ahn certainly seemed ready to win one. Since her breakthrough win at the CJ 9 Bridges Classic in 2003 (still her only tour victory), she had notched nine top five finishes: two seconds, a third, two fourths and four fifths. At some of those events, the winner had simply run away with the tournament and there wasn't much she could do. But she had her chances to win others and had not been able to pull it off (most recently at the LPGA Championship just a few weeks earlier). Shi Hyun was going through a learning process. She knew how to get into contention, now she needed to learn how to close the deal when she had the chance. This tournament might be a good place to start.

On the ninth hole, Shi Hyun put her tee shot close to the flag. A great birdie chance to catch Mi Hyun, but she missed it. Meanwhile, JJ and Cavalleri both moved to 9 under. Then Kimmie stuffed her second shot on 12 to about six feet from the flag and drained that birdie to regain the solo lead at 10 under. Shi Hyun had started the day with the solo lead, but now found herself 2 shots back. She needed to make a move to get herself back in the hunt.

She made a move, all right, but in the wrong direction. She struggled on the par 5 11th, hitting a poor third shot well past the hole, then only making par. On 12 she wound up in the bunker and could not get up and down, falling to 7 under. She made another bogey after that to fall to 6 under, at that point 4 shots off the lead. She rallied somewhat with an excellent approach on 16 to three feet for a birdie that moved her back to 7 under, but more mistakes caused her to fall all the way to 5 under by the end of the day. She had shot a third round 75, and would not be a factor for the rest of the tournament. But she would be back in contention again at the following week's event, the US Women's Open, showing she was still very much on top of her game.

Her playing partner Seon Hwa Lee had a roller coaster day on Saturday herself. She was still one over par for her day when she reached the par 5 11th. She didn't hit a particularly good third shot, landing about ten feet from the flag but in the fringe. But she drilled that birdie and climbed back to 7 under, where she had started her day. She just missed a good birdie try on 14, then missed the green on 15 but hit a brilliant chip to a foot to easily save par. She was fighting to stay at 7 under while the leaders moved forward. On 16, she hit her approach to 4 feet, giving herself a golden opportunity to advance, but pushed her putt and had to settle for par. Then came the 17th hole, a par 5. She had real problems all the way, fighting through the rough, and wound up making bogey where most others were making birdie. She finished her day with a one over par 73 and a 6 under total. She had a lot of work to do to get back into the tournament.

But while the Koreans in the final group struggled, other Korean golfers were making their presence felt. When last we left Mi Hyun Kim, she had just ascended to the top of the leaderboard at 10 under par. Playing ahead of her, Jeong Jang had some troubles on the 14th hole, hitting her drive into the thick rough, then her approach into the bunker. But she got it up and down from there brilliantly. Then JJ joined her friend at the top with a birdie on the 15th hole. At that point, those two had a two shot lead over the rest of the field. One of the players trying to narrow that gap was rookie Brittany Lang. Lang is a very long hitter who seems to play aggressively at all times. On the back nine this day, this style resulted in her hitting it into the trees on several holes. But somehow she found a way to get out of trouble each time and saved par. Her approach finally paid dividends for her on the 17th hole. After a perfect drive, she hit her second shot on this par 5 to within a few feet, then made the eagle. Despite all the hacking she had done this day, she moved to 10 under with that shot.

Meanwhile, JJ hit another brilliant approach on 16, then drilled that birdie as well to move to 11 under and the lead. Kimmie made a tricky two putt on 14 to stay at 10 under, then lipped out a birdie try on 15. JJ was now playing the par 5, but only made par there, and finished her day at 11 under. So Kimmie still had a chance to catch or even pass her friend on the leaderboard. But she couldn't do it. So the day ended with JJ in the lead, Kimmie and Lang tied for second. Kimmie and JJ would play in the final group together on Sunday. JJ would have to put out of her mind the collapse she had suffered in Corning, where she had had a three shot lead going into the final round only to lose. Perhaps this upstate New York contest would turn out far better for her.

Se Ri Pak had been having a mediocre putting week and a great driving week. The fun continued for her on this day, and she produced another one over par round to fall to 2 over for the tournament. You couldn't fault her driving, though. She was not only accurate, her distance for the first two rounds was second best in the entire field (Jee Young Lee, by the way, was third). She was striking the ball a mind boggling 287 yards on average. She would improve her score on the final day, shooting her first sub-par round of the week by making birdies on her final two holes. She shot a 70 that day for an even par total and a 45th place finish. Things would improve a lot for her at the Open the next week.

At the start of the fourth round, Kimmie almost immediately began to struggle, notching three early bogies to fall all the way to 7 under. JJ made a birdie on the 2nd hole to move to 11 under, then another from short range on 4 to move to 12 under. Brittany Lang, who had started the day only one shot behind JJ, birdied 4, 5 and 8 to move to 13 under and a one shot lead. JJ then missed a long eagle try on 8 but made the birdie, herself moving to 13 under par. By this point, she and Lang were tied, but had a three shot lead over the next nearest pursuers, Marcy Hart, Hee-Won Han and Wendy Ward, all of whom were tied at 10 under.

By this point, Gloria Park had already finished her round, and she had played beautifully. She shot a final round 65 to vault all the way to 9 under par. It would not be good enough to win, in all likelihood, but she had insured herself of a top ten, and would hold the clubhouse lead for the next several hours. It was a much needed return to form for the struggling star.

On the 9th hole, Kimmie finally stopped the bleeding with a birdie to move back to 8 under. Although she was now five shots out of the lead, she was by no means out of it. If she could continue to chip away at the lead, the win could still be hers; and if not, she still might score a great finish. JJ helped her out a bit by struggling on the 10th hole to a bogey. But Lang made a chip to inches on 10 and saved par, then just missed a birdie on the par 5 11th that would have given her a two shot lead. Still, she was at 13 under and maintained her one shot advantage over JJ.