Hole 17: Se Ri hit the rough on the left. Again, this was a hole where trees partially blocked your view, and the green has tons of undulations. About 140 yards to the flag, she hit a transcendent iron to maybe four feet. Phenomenal. Around the tree, rolled it up right next to the hole, thank you very much. And she MISSED THE BIRDIE!!!! ARGH! This one was a heartbreaker, because it was essentially a no break putt she could have practically blown into the cup.

Hole 18: The closing par 5. Massive, massive drive (I think longer than the one I saw Davies hit yesterday). Her approach easily reached the green, but rolled off to the left. Then she had to chip. Oh dear. She was below the green, so had to make sure she got it on the surface. That's all you HAD TO DO to be OK. Her chip went almost to the surface, then rolled all the way back to her feet. What a terrible chip. She did the same shot a second time, and stopped it one foot from the hole. If she had done that the first time, she would have been one under on the day!!!

Se Ri probably should have been under par on Saturday
Seoul Sisters Photo/Eric Fleming

Christina Kim stands out in a crowd with her
Saturday attire
Seoul Sisters Photo/Eric Fleming

Summary:
I'm not kidding when I say that with a halfway decent putting day, Se Ri could easily have been three or four under par on her round. She was striking the ball beautifully, and even her bad chipping and pitching would not have hurt her had her putter been more ready to go. Nonetheless, her performance moved her to 27th place, and a much better tee time for Sunday.

Grace Park and Christina Kim:

So, Se Ri having finished her day, I went back to find Grace Park and Christina Kim, who were playing together. They had started about an hour later than Se Ri, and I caught up with them as they were on the 14th green.

Hole 14: This hole wasn't too good for Grace (she saved par after chipping out of heavy rough to inches). Christina Kim had a 25 footer. The whole way, she was begging the ball to slow down. Then suddenly, she realized it might go in, and she started saying 'Speed up!' over and over. It went in for birdie! Christina is so fun!

Hole 15: (par 3). Grace hit her tee shot to 15 feet, then nailed the birdie. The marshal standing there told me it was the first birdie on that hole all day. Here Christina shouted for her tee shot to be nice; then, when it was, said, 'Be nicer! Even nicer!' She almost birdied.

Hole 16: Grace got it in the fairway, ended up on the wrong tier, but had a sweet two putt to save par.

On this hole I overheard Grace's Nike handlers talking about Grace. Everywhere she went all week she had three - four Nike employees following her around. Sure seems like they are taking their investment in her seriously! They mentioned that she was to play in some kind of golf tournament on Monday with some customers of Nike's; she was to play three holes with each group. I talked with two of these folks briefly later.

Hole 17: Grace missed the green, but almost chipped it in; she tapped in for par.

As Grace came off the 17th tee, she came over and posed for a picture for me (and there it is to the right!). That's one of the things I like about Grace; she's such a ham!

Hole 18: Grace reached the fringe of the green in two (after another massive drive). She chipped to 4 feet and made another birdie. If only Se Ri had had that chip this week, she would be ten under by now!

Grace poses for the camera on the 17th tee
Seoul Sisters Photo/Eric Fleming

Fortunately, Grace's new Nike clothes carry
on her peek-a-boo shirt tradition
Seoul Sisters Photo/Eric Fleming

After the round, I lingered by the practice green and watched as Grace and Christina signed some autographs. I saw Dave, Grace's caddie, talking with the Nike folks, so I wandered over to chat. I asked him how Grace's round had gone. He replied that it had been up and down, with an unfortunate double bogey on the par 3 5th after Grace knocked it into the water. I told him she was playing well while I watched her, and one of the Nike fellas replied that I should have come to watch earlier, it might have helped her (sorry, I was watching Se Ri!). We talked a little about how Grace's attitude and toughness has improved; he felt that even since the beginning of the year, there had been a noticeable improvement. I told him how things would have been different in years past, and mentioned the trouble she had had at the 9 Bridges event in that bad weather on Sunday. He reminded me that he had been there, as Carin Koch's caddie; they had finished second behind Se Ri.