2007 ADT Tour Championship

Friday marked the first cut. Christina and Mi Hyun continued to cruise and easily advanced to the weekend. In fact, Kimmie wound up shooting another under par round and had the best two day total in the field at 7 under par, while Christina was tied for second at 6 under. None of that would matter, of course, as the scores would be erased on Saturday morning.

Seon Hwa Lee seemed like she was on her way to missing the cut. She shot 2 over par through 11 holes, leaving her at 4 over par total, which would certainly not be enough to make it to the weekend. But at that point she turned on the jets, and made four birdies in the final seven holes to vault back to even par. She easily made it through. Sarah Lee, meanwhile, was cruising along, and even a slight speed bump in the form of a bogey on the 16th hole did not stop her from moving on; her total was one over par.

So, with Inbee, Angela and Jee Young eliminated, that left Se Ri, Jeong Jang and Shi Hyun (pictured) trying to make it through. Se Ri started the day at 5 over par, meaning she needed to have a pretty remarkable day to advance. It wasn't going all that well for her early on: she had two early birdies, but also a bogey and a double bogey to go out in one over par. But she made a bunch of pars after that, then scored an eagle on the par 5 15th to move to 4 over par. It was looking like 3 over was going to be the cut line, so Se Ri needed to figure out a way to make a birdie on one of the three final, incredibly tough, holes. But at that point she went the wrong direction: she made a double on 16, par on 17, and another double on 18 to end her season. She was close at one point, but in the end couldn't pull off what she needed to get through.

Shi Hyun Ahn was in much better shape. She had been fighting hard, starting the day at 2 over and having several birdies and bogies on the front nine. At one point, she had fallen all the way to 5 over, but fought back to 3 over, within the cut line. On the deadly par 3 17th, she put her tee shot in the perfect place, about ten feet from the hole and right under it. She had a great chance for a birdie, and if she could pull that off, that would give her a huge cushion going into the very tough final hole. But she hit arguably the worst putt of her season, blowing the ball well past the hole and nowhere near on line. She ended up three putting for bogey, made bogey on 18 as well, and her season also came to a close.

That left just JJ, who seemed to be on cruise control through her first 27 holes. By that time she had amassed an even par total, so all she needed was to keep that up and she would advance by a bunch. But she made double bogey-bogey-bogey on the 11th through 13th holes, and just like that, she was fighting for her life. She made pars the rest of the way, but that left her at 4 over total and on the outside looking in. What a big disappointment for the Little Giant!

In the end, the cut for day two did end up being 3 over par. Four Korean golfers advanced, and none made the playoff at 3 over, which claimed Annika Sorenstam as its sole victim. The slate would be wiped clean, and Kimmie (pictured), Christina, Seon Hwa and Sarah would start from scratch. This time, the goal was to make the top eight, and once again, it would be a battle for those ladies to reach the promised land.

For one of those women, Seon Hwa Lee, it would not be. She played well most of the day, but wound up finishing at even par 72. By the half way point of the day, it looked like the cut would be around 2 under. Every time Lee made a birdie, a bogey was not far behind. Although she played the back nine well, including making even par through the final three holes, it was not enough.

The other three women were having markedly different days half way through the round. Sarah Lee was one under par after nine holes, right on the cusp of making it, while Christina Kim went out in one over par. The only Korean golfer who looked like she was having a fairly easy time of it was the player who had led through the first two days, Mi Hyun Kim. Kimmie was four under par on the front nine and added another birdie on 12 to get to 5 under. It certainly seemed like she was in perfect position to make the run to Sunday.

But the final holes on this course are so tough that no one could count on being through until the final putt fell, and for all three of those women, there was a lot more excitement coming in those holes. Sarah Lee, who finished first, made another bogey on the 13th hole, but followed that with two straight birdies to move to 2 under total. She hung in there on the final three holes, finished the day at 2 under, and secured a ticket to the final.

Meanwhile, Christina (pictured) and Kimmie were in the final two groups, thanks to their great play of the first two days. In the interim, several other players struggled coming into the house. Suzann Pettersen, who had been the second best player in the LPGA in 2007, was not able to get the job on this day and missed the cut by several shots. Hall of Famer Juli Inkster was playing well until she reached those final three holes: after a bogey on 16 and a double on 17, she fell to even par and out of the money. Shortly thereafter, Sophie Gustafson was cruising along in her round, which included a hole out from the fairway on the 6th hole. By the 12th hole she was four under par and thoroughly in control. But the 17th hole proved her waterloo, literally: she hit her tee shot right into the water and made double bogey. She also bogied the 18th after landing in the deadly greenside bunker on the left, and dropped to 1 under. In just two holes, she had gone from a certain pass to having to wait to see if she would be in a playoff for the final hole. Yet another player staked herself out to a good start, Nicole Castrale. Castrale was 3 under at the turn, but made a couple of bogies and a birdie to fall to 2 under, the edge of elimination. On the 18th hole, she hit a decent drive, but on her second shot, landed the ball in the one place she didn't want to be, short of the green. It landed in the tightly mown grass and rolled backwards into the water. She wound up with a bogey there and joined Gustafson at one under.

Meanwhile, Christina was battling hard to come back and make the cut. She was one over par after 12 holes, but made birdies on the tough 14th and the par 5 15th to climb to one under. She then hit the three killer closing holes. On 16, she made a bogey to fall back out of contention, but on the 17th she hit a marvelous shot and drained the birdie, one of the few birdies on that hole on this day. She got into the house at one under par, and she, too, had to wait to see if she could advance. So by this point, six players were guaranteed through to Sunday, including Sarah Lee. Christina was waiting for a playoff, which at the moment would be between her, Gustafson and Castrale for the final spot. And one more player, Mi Hyun Kim, was in good position to advance.