So starting her afternoon round on day 2, Se Ri by no means was assured making the cut. She was tied for 60th. But to her credit, she was not about to go gently into a second missed cut in 2003. She birdied the very first hole, and though her first bogey came on a par 5, she birdied the other three and came away with a 3 under 69. This vaulted her all the way up from 60th to 18th, but she was still a daunting 8 shots out of the lead. Alas, her Saturday was not too great, and she actually lost ground to the field with an even par 72. It wasn't for lack of some good holes, though. She went out in even par after again bogeying a par 5 (what's up with that?). But she birdied 6, 7, 10 and 11 to move to 4 under, and had a par 5 coming up on 12. She was starting to make a move, but it never happened, and two late bogeys knocked her right back to that 72. She was now 11 shots out of the lead and would require the greatest comeback in LPGA history to hoist the trophy on Sunday.

After four straight tournaments, Se Ri needs a break!
Reuters/Tami Chappell

I guess I needn't tell you that she didn't make it, but she did give it a good go. Her front nine was quite good, with birdies on 1, 3 and 6. She did not birdie the par 5 ninth, though, which briefly derailed her. Another birdie on 10 put her at 6 under, well within reach of a top five with a little more oomph. But that was as close as she would get, and after a crazy stretch of bogey-birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey, she finished the day with a 69, and the tournament in 14th place. Her third worst finish of the year, but still not miserable, and good enough to move her back into first place on the LPGA money list (though bad enough to drop her to third in the scoring average race).

Grace lines up a putt in Round 1

OK, so it wasn't Se Ri's week in Augusta, but how about Grace Park? After all, she was coming off a great performance at the Michelob to notch her fourth win in as many seasons. That win had moved her up to third on the money list, and a win in Augusta could make HER the number one player on the money list. But there's just one problem: most players have a tough time stringing together two great tournaments in a row (if those players are not name Annika Sorenstam or Se Ri Pak it's particularly hard). You would therefore expect a letdown from Grace, and that, unfortunately, is exactly what you got. Her first round was particularly dire, although she refused to let it get too terrible. She did birdie two of the four par 5s, but also had four bogeys to go with three total birdies. So she ended up at 73 as well, tied with Se Ri and herself in danger of missing the cut. Unlike Se Ri, Grace did not have a particularly solid round 2, but it was still under par, and that's all she needed to comfortably make it to the weekend. But she was already out of it, and could hope at best for a decent showing if she could heat up a little on Saturday.

Grace heated up to a low simmer, but hardly beyond that. Her third round was a 70, as was her fourth. She was hitting it pretty well, getting it on the green and giving herself at least a few chances. But her putter just wasn't cooperating; on Sunday, she had 32 putts, pretty bad for a player of Grace's caliber. And though she didn't make tons of bad mistakes, the few she did seemed to cost her bogeys. So even though she had four birdies on both weekend days, she gave back two bogeys per day, including a killer on the par 5 ninth. She ended up tied for 21st. Not a bad result for a player the week after a win. But not one for the scrapbook, either. Grace now has two weeks off to rest, practice and get ready to make some more noise the rest of the year.

OK, so that leaves Mi Hyun Kim among the Seoul Sisters, but she is the player who has had the least success all year. On the plus side, however, is the fact that Mi Hyun always starts the season a bit slowly, then starts to heat up. This year has been no different. She's had a few top twenties, and the week before Asahi notched a great 5th place finish and had at one point pulled to within only one shot of the lead before fading somewhat and ending up 2 shots out of first place. Her pattern suggested that this might be the week she seriously contends, but alas, like the other two top Korean players, her first round results were disappointing. Indeed, she was even worse off than the other Seoul Sisters after a 2-over par 74 put her in a tie for 83rd place. I can't remember too many times when Se Ri, Mi Hyun and Grace were all in danger of missing the cut after the first round of a tournament. But as we saw, Se Ri and Grace bounced back; could Mi Hyun?

Peanut styling as usual
Reuters/Tami Chappell