Perhaps it wasn't meant to be her week, but Mi Hyun was not going to give up without a fight. Unfortunately, round 2 was not the kind of round that was going to make ground on the leaders. As Sorenstam once again shot a really low round (this time a 66), Kimmie still had a great day in terms of accuracy, hitting 13 of 14 fairways and missing only 5 greens. But this time it was the putting that was not paying dividends, as she actually had more putts this day (30) than Friday, despite the fact she hit 4 fewer greens. She ended up with a one under par 71, which on this course in these conditions knocked her out of any realistic chance of winning the tournament. Still, she was in 7th place, and had a good chance of collecting a third top ten. How she played on day three could be an indicator of whether Mi Hyun is ready for her typical run of great performances, or if she is still struggling to get her game up to speed.

Peanut drives in round 1
Reuters/Frank Polich

Meanwhile, there were a few other Korean and Korean American players who were playing well. Hee-Won Han, who has made it a habit to perform well, once again was living up to her rep, sitting in 12th place with a very good chance to collect a fifth top ten for the year. And Christina Kim once again was playing well, and was sitting in 8th place at the moment. None of them had any chance to win, but all of them could notch top tens for the cause.

In the final round, Mi Hyun showed she is ready to start contending. She played flawlessly, not even a bogey on her scorecard all day. She hit 14 greens and yet again missed only one fairway, making it only three missed fairways all week. Her round really got a jump start on the 417 yard 7th hole, where she hit a 3 wood from the rough to within two feet of the pin, setting up an easy birdie.

Another good putt!

She had her best putting day of the tournament, with 27 putts on the round. As a result, she had 5 birdies and finished with a strong 67, one of the best rounds of the day (better than Sorenstam's 71, in fact, but Sorenstam had too much of a lead to be overcome). Peanut in fact had one hole that showed that the stubby may be staying in her bag for a while to come. On 18, a par 5, she hit her third shot a bit right of the green; since there was water over there, she was worried, but in fact she was in the fringe safe. Her fourth shot was a chip that she was not able to get very close to the hole, leaving her about 6 - 8 feet for par. Mi Hyun confidently lined up the putt and nailed it to the delight of the crowd. Nothing like having a clutch par save on the last hole of a tournament to give you good feelings going into the next week.

Since the next week is a Major, Mi Hyun can use all the good feelings she can get. The McDonald's LPGA Championship is played on the kind of course where Peanut should excel. If her putting confidence is back, it will be interesting to see if she can at last contend and maybe even win a Major. That would be the kind of elfin magic no cookie can provide!