For Se Ri, the key to any event is always to keep herself in it for the first two rounds. If she can do that, she can often work weekend magic that will produce a top five or even a win. And in this, she was successful. It was especially tricky because, again, the weather was not kind. Rain soaked the course, and it was not until about four hours after the planned start of the day that players were finally able to start their rounds. Se Ri was stuck with an afternoon tee time, and so had to wait until quite late to start. She only managed about ten holes before darkness shut her down. Still, it was a good start, with two birdies on the front nine to put her at 2 under. When she resumed play on Saturday, she had to play her remaining eight or so holes, then had a break of about half an hour, then had to play her entire second round. She struggled a little more when round one resumed, with a birdie on the par 5 13th offset by two bogeys on 15 and 16. Still, a 71 was not a terrible start, and put her a mere five shots out of the lead. She would have some work to do to get back in contention, but she had two days to do it (provided, of course, that more rain did not change that).

Se Ri's not sure where that last shot came from...
Reuters/Tami Chappell

Se Ri smacks it in round 2
Reuters/Tami Chappell

In her second round she did that work, playing a brilliant round that proved to be tied for lowest of the day. Starting on the 10th, she birdied 11, 16 and the par 5 18th to move to 4 under for the tournament. She added two more birdies at one and two (another par 5), and birdied the par 5 6th to move to 6 under for the day. She stalled a bit after that, but a wonderful approach to about ten feet left her with a straight putt on her final hole. Bottom of the cup for a 65. She had zoomed from way back in the pack to second place. By the end of the day she sat in third, but that was good enough to put her in her first final Sunday group of the year. Her stats were impressive. Seven birdies, no bogeys, 14/18 greens in regulation, 11 of 14 fairways hit, 27 putts.

But sitting in the lead, three shots ahead of Se Ri, was Karrie Webb. Webb has not had an easy time of it the last few years, but she has had an ability to shoot a few good rounds from time to time. If Karrie kept her confidence, she would be tough to beat, but experience suggested that she would have a hard time doing so if pressed. Thus, it was Se Ri's job to get into her head as soon as possible, and force Webb to rise to the occasion. The other player in the threesome was the unheralded Shani Waugh. She had a one stroke lead on Se Ri to start the day.

Se Ri came ready to play in round 2
Reuters/Tami Chappell

Still, the tournament was far from over, and Se Ri was still in good position. But when she reached the treacherous 10th hole, which had water all along the left, Se Ri's drive was the one place it could not afford to be, and got wet. Though she made a valiant try, she made bogey, and suddenly her comeback seemed in jeopardy.

She then proceeded to pull off one of her patented miraculous bursts of brilliance, and went in just four holes to the top of the leaderboard. She did this with a combination of great iron play and clutch putting; simply put, she knocked her irons close and made the putts. And just like that, she had moved to 14 under and given herself a one shot lead over Pettersen and Waugh. Webb, meanwhile, started to have problems, mishitting short approaches, missing makeable putts. By the 14th hole, the battle was between the three within one shot of the lead: Pettersen, Waugh and Se Ri.