2007 Tournament of Champions:
Fly Like a Birdie

By Saturday afternoon, Creamer had all but wrapped up the title. She shot yet another perfect round, a four under 68, and moved to 16 under total. The next nearest golfer was Pat Hurst at 10 under. Jin Joo Hong continued to play well, but still lost ground to the young American. Hong shot a two under par 70 to move to 9 under total. Her round featured only one significant mistake, a double bogey on the third hole; otherwise, she played well, carding four additional birdies.

Several Korean golfers had fantastic rounds on this day, although they were all too far back to catch Creamer in all likelihood (barring a massive collapse by the American, of course). Seon Hwa Lee shot a 5 under par 67 to move to 5 under total and into the top ten. Jimin Kang, who had shot a 76 on day two, shot a 68 to move back under par. Hee-Won Han, Mi Hyun Kim and Christina Kim all shot good rounds as well. But the best round of the day was turned in by a most unlikely player: Birdie Kim (pictured). As mentioned before, Birdie has had a pretty good 2007, but still has not really lived up to the potential she showed by winning the Open a few years ago. On this day, though, she treated her fans to a reminder of just what she is capable of when she is firing on all cylinders. She shot a 6 under par 66, the low round of the day, to vault up the leaderboard into a tie for fourth with Annika Sorenstam and Suzann Pettersen. She played with Lorena Ochoa on this day, and outplayed the Mexican star despite the fact Ochoa was also having a good day (she shot a 68). The unquestioned highlight of her round came on the par 5 13th hole. Birdie had put her second shot into a greenside bunker clear on the other side of the green from the flag. It certainly did not look like a very easy chance for birdie. Kim hit a marvelous bunker shot that landed on the green and rolled inexorably all the way into the hole for an eagle. Ochoa gave her a high five to celebrate that brilliant shot. One could not help but be reminded of the most famous shot Birdie had ever hit, from another greenside bunker, only that one fell into the hole to secure for her the Open victory. Birdie had a lot to look forward to even beyond this event. Her mother had introduced her in the past year to a male golf pro named Bae Gyu Lee. The friendship blossomed into love, and the couple announced that they would be getting married at the end of the year. What a wonderful wedding present Birdie could give herself if she kept playing like she did on this day! Kim will become the third Seoul Sister, after Hee-Won Han and Gloria Park, to get married since the Korean wave started. Presumably, she will continue to play on tour next year, unless, like Hee-Won, she gets pregnant in the interim!

The biggest blemish on day three came from Se Ri Pak. Se Ri's injury finally got the better of her, as she shot a 5 over par 77 to plummet down the leaderboard. She finally decided to quit the event rather than struggle through another round of that.

The final round went pretty much like it looked like it would, with Creamer cruising to an easy win; the final margin was 8 shots, not that it really mattered. About the only suspense on Sunday was whether or not Creamer would beat Ochoa's 2006 tournament record, which had broken Se Ri's own tournament record of 2002. As it turned out, she didn't, thanks to a final hole bogey, but she still tied Pak's 20 under total for second best in tournament history.

The real suspense was whether or not Birdie or Jin Joo could nab second place. But amazingly, another Korean golfer made a bold move up the leaderboard before either of them. That golfer was Jimin Kang (pictured). Like Birdie, Kang had been having a good 2007 season, but had not collected a lot of top tens despite that. On this day, though, everything went well for her. She shot a 7 under par 65, which included a back nine 31, and leapt to 8 under total. That gave her a tie for 6th place finish and a nice memory to take with her into the off season.

A couple of other Koreans also had great days. Hee-Won Han may be out of practice after her long layoff, but she sure didn't show it on Sunday. She carded a 5 under par 67 to move into a tie for 10th. In her two events back, she had finished 11th and 10th, fantastic for someone so out of practice. Christina Kim did even better, shooting a 66 to also move into a tie for 10th, and Seon Hwa Lee shot a 72 to finish at that place as well.

Jin Joo Hong, alas, did not have a particularly good day on Sunday. Playing with Birdie in the penultimate group, she shot a one over par 73, finishing her round with a bogey. Not how she wanted to end, perhaps, but her total still left her with her best finish of the season and only top ten, a tie for 6th. Here's hoping that her 2008 will build on the promise of this final event.

Birdie Kim got right back into the battle on the final day. She made a second eagle for the week, this time the old fashioned way, on a par 5 via a putt. She had a bogey shortly thereafter, but wound up the week with three birdies on the back nine to card a 12 under total and a second place finish, by far her best finish of the year and her best overall performance since that magical week in Colorado in 2005. Now it's back to Korea for her wedding and honeymoon, then back to work, where hopefully she can build on her success and make 2008 the year she finally breaks out of her shell and 'flies like a birdie'.