The next two days, Se Ri played very well, but not at the heights of her first day. Slowly, other top players started to creep back into the tournament. Se Ri still held a share of the lead after Friday's round, but now she was tied with none other than the other two members of the Big Three, Karrie Webb and Annika Sorenstam. This was the first time in history that these three top players in women's golf were all tied after two rounds at the top of a leaderboard. A dream matchup for the LPGA, but also a real chance for Se Ri to show what she was made of. However, on Saturday it was Sorenstam who went low, shooting a 7 under 65 to take a two shot lead in the tournament at 18 under par. Se Ri was not playing badly, to be sure. But you could sense a little bit of uncertainty, particularly on the tee. She still was hitting 15 greens in regulation on both Friday and Saturday, but her fairways hit % was dropping. She went from hitting 10 fairways on Thursday to 9 on Friday to 7 on Saturday. Her distance had improved, but it was still clear she did not feel entirely comfortable on the tee.

Se Ri in round 2

Se Ri at the 7th hole on Saturday
Reuters/Jeff Topping

Still, she gutted it out, as champions do. Her putting was very good, 29 putts on Friday and 30 on Saturday. Most importantly, she did not give up, believing that if she could just keep the leaders in sight, she could make her move when her game came back. A key moment came on the 18th on Saturday. She hit a pretty good approach that left her with a 12 footer uphill for birdie. Se Ri was being covered that day by her good friend Pearl Sinn-Bonanni, who now was working as a commentator for ESPN. She told Pearl as she walked up the fairway that she was going to make this birdie putt. And sure enough, she did, cutting Annika's lead over her to three shots. Always nice to end on an up note.

So with one round to go, Se Ri was at 15 under, three shots behind Annika, two shots behind Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, and tied with Karrie Webb AND Grace Park, two formidable players.

In many sports, there come certain games or tournaments that later prove to be pivotal moments. Such a moment had occurred, in my opinion, at this very tournament back in 2001. Remember the situation back then: Karrie Webb was coming off of two years as the number one player in women's golf. Se Ri had had a lackluster, winless 2000, but had worked hard in the off-season to insure she would have a great 2001. Annika, too, had worked hard to grab her chance at the top spot. Se Ri came out that year and won the very first event of the year going away; she had never previously won an event before May. She then got ill for a month, and during that time Sorenstam notched two second place finishes. In their first true battle against each other, at the Welch's Circle K, Annika won and Se Ri finished second.

So they were pretty evenly matched to that point in 2001: Se Ri with one win and one second, Sorenstam with one win and two seconds.

Then came the Standard Register Ping (as it was then known). And everything changed.

They started out with a matching pair of 65s to put themselves into contention right away. But on day two, Annika became the first woman in history to shoot a sub-60 score. She established a 9 stroke lead over the field, and looked for all intents and purposes to have locked up the title.

On Saturday of that day, Karrie Webb gave up her status as the number one player or the number two player in women's golf. She did not respond to Annika's challenge; nor did anyone else in the field. Except Se Ri. Se Ri refused to say die, figuring, if Annika could shoot a 59, why couldn't she? As a result, she shot a blistering 63 and climbed to within three shots of Annika. Her assault continued on Sunday, and by the 15th hole, she had, unbelievably, caught Annika at 26 under par. Women's golf had never seen anything remotely like it.

The top two players in women's golf for the next two years were established on that day. And I firmly believe that it was Annika's ability to fight off Se Ri and take the trophy that established her as the number one player and Se Ri as number two. Oh, there were many battle to come after that, and Karrie Webb was far from finished; but looking back on that 2001 tournament, it seems more pivotal than ever in how it changed the balance of power.

Se Ri drives in round 4