SeoulSisters Awards

Heartbreaker of the Year:
Se Ri Pak at the Kraft Nabisco Championship
This "award" goes to the most heartbreaking tournament result in 2007. This year there were an unfortunately large number of possibilities to choose from, but even so, one tournament stands out as the biggest letdown, and it came early in the season at the year's first Major, the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Se Ri Pak has been an incredible golfer in her ten years on the LPGA tour. She has won five Majors, 24 total events, and earned enough points to make it into the Hall of Fame at the age of 30. Indeed, 2007 was the year she finally made it into the Hall (she had all the points she needed back in 2004, but had to play ten full years on tour to enter). But for all her achievements, there are two notable holes in her resume. One is that she has never won the Player of the Year on the LPGA tour, and the other is that there is one Major she has never won: the Kraft Nabisco. Indeed, she had never really even come close to winning this event, although she had notched a top ten in the past. Over the last few years, it has increasingly become her top goal to finally claim this title.

In 2007, it looked like her dream might finally come true. In the first round, she shot a respectable even par round, which left her four shots behind surprise first round leader Shi Hyun Ahn. Meanwhile, Annika Sorenstam played terribly, falling well out of the lead, and in the second round would fall even further back. One of Se Ri's biggest rivals would not challenge her this week. In round two, Se Ri shot a 70, and moved to within two shots of the lead, which was co-held by Lorena Ochoa and Paula Creamer. Ochoa had never won a Major, but was the top player on tour and thus still the player to beat. But Pak got another boost in her efforts when Karrie Webb, the defending champion at the Nabisco, shot a second round 77 to plunge down the leaderboard. One by one, Se Ri's biggest rivals were falling away, while Se Ri hung in contention.

In the third round, Pak's chances of winning the tournament went from good to fantastic. Ochoa had been leading the event when she reached the 17th hole and had a meltdown. By the time she left that par 3 hole, she had a quadruple bogey and had fallen out of contention. Meanwhile, Se Ri shot another solid 2 under par 70 to move to the top of the leaderboard, into a tie with Suzann Pettersen. Ochoa ended up with a 77. Suddenly, the situation was perfect for Se Ri. For the first time in her life, she led this event going into Sunday. Surrounding her were not the usual superstars, but a bunch of players who had never won Majors before. In fact, all the other players in the top ten on the leaderboard combined had not won even half as many events as Se Ri had. Pettersen, although she would go on to have a great season, had never won an event on the LPGA as of that point. And, to make it even better, in her entire LPGA career, Se Ri had NEVER lost a 72 hole event when she had the lead or a share of the lead going into the final round. And to make it even better still, she finished her third round by making an improbable super long birdie putt, just the kind of putt that tends to fall when things are going your way and a tournament win is in the cards.

In round four, she got out to a great start, moving quickly to five under total and a two shot lead. Creamer imploded and would not be a factor, and Pettersen started her day with two early bogies as well. But just when it looked like the Se Ri victory party could start, Pettersen made a birdie to move back to 3 under. Then, on the 8th hole, Se Ri made an unfortunate bogey, while Pettersen again birdied, and suddenly, the two were tied for the lead. Se Ri had tree trouble on the 9th hole, and Pettersen birdied to take a one shot lead going into the back nine. At that point, Pak was still very much in it, and the back nine of a Major was usually her place to shine.

But the next two holes went badly for Se Ri. She missed a short par save on 10 to fall two back. On 11, Pettersen got in trouble off the tee, while Se Ri was perfect, but Se Ri only made par while Pettersen, somehow, made birdie. Instead of getting a shot back on Pettersen, Se Ri had dropped even further behind. She did make a birdie on 12 to move back within two, but after that things went south for her. Perhaps she was a tad too aggressive, trying to force birdies to put pressure on Pettersen. It didn't work, and she fell to three shots down by the 15th hole.

At this point, it may have been wiser for Se Ri to play more conservatively and hope that the pressure of the moment would affect Pettersen and she would fall back. At a Major, pars can often be enough to win. But Se Ri kept up the aggressive play with bad results. She bogied both 15 and 16 to fall to one under total. At that point, Pettersen also started to struggle, making a bogey and a double bogey to fall to 3 under, where Se Ri had been just two holes before. Had Se Ri made pars on those two holes, she would have been tied for the lead with the momentum on her side. But hindsight is always twenty-twenty, isn't it?

Meanwhile, compounding the problem was that Morgan Pressel, totally unaware of the situation, had finished her round at 3 under total. So now, not only did Se Ri have to catch Pettersen, she had to make birdies to get back to Pressel's score. But by this point, Se Ri's negative momentum was too strong. She continued to try her best, but bogied the 17th hole, then bogied the 18th as well when she tried to go for the green in two on this par 5 hole. Instead of winning the event, she barely finished inside the top ten, ending up tenth. Pettersen continued to self destruct, and Pressel wound up winning the first Major (and first LPGA tournament) of her career. Se Ri Pak had not only lost a four round event for the first time when she had the lead going into the final round, she had done it with a very uncharacteristic bogey train on the final nine holes. And the player she was trying to catch by being aggressive, Pettersen, also self destructed, adding a bunch of 'what-ifs' to the equation. What if she had been more conservative on the back nine, rather than trying to force birdies? An even par back nine would have been sufficient, as it turned out, for her to lift the cup. But she had no way of knowing that, and believed she was doing the right thing at the time.

Regardless of what might have happened, the end results were what they were. And so, what could have been one of the greatest moments of her career, completing the career Grand Slam during her Hall of Fame year, instead turned into one of the biggest disappointments she ever faced.

(Dis)Honorable Mentions:
In-Kyung Kim loses playoff at the Wegman Rochester LPGA
What a major disappointment this result was for Seoul Sisters fans! In-Kyung Kim had had a solid rookie campaign, but she had been perpetually chasing Angela Park all year in the Rookie of the Year race. But in the early summer, she had a chance to do something Park had yet to do as a pro: win a tournament. She was paired at the top of the leaderboard with Lorena Ochoa at the Wegman's Rochester LPGA tournament. But Ochoa was having an uncharacteristically terrible day on the course, making all sorts of boneheaded mistakes, giving Inky a golden opportunity to break through for her win. She slowly forged out ahead of Ochoa, and with two holes to go, had a three shot lead over the world's number one.

That's when everything that could go wrong did. Ochoa somehow reached the green in two on the par 5 17th (she had had trouble hitting greens all day), then drained the eagle putt from 25 feet. Inky missed her birdie try there, and the lead suddenly was reduced to one stroke. Kim overhit her approach on the 18th hole, leaving herself in a dicey lie behind the green. Fortunately, Ochoa only made par there, so all Kim had to do was get up and down, and the win was hers. Of course, that was not easy from where she was, but she hit a superlative chip to a couple of feet and seemingly had the win in hand. Not so fast: she missed the par save, and fell back into a playoff.

On the first playoff hole, In-Kyung hit her approach much closer than Ochoa, and after Ochoa missed the birdie, Kim had yet another chance to put the event away. But she missed the birdie by the barest of margins, and so they went on to the 10th hole for a second playoff hole. On that hole, both players missed the fairway. In fact, Ochoa missed it by a lot more, but got a big break when her ball rolled off the cart path into a decent lie. Neither player could get on the green in two, but Ochoa hit her third pitch to inches, forcing Kim to come up with some magic. But she was not able to, and missed her putt for par to hand the tournament to Ochoa. It was an agonizing series of missteps coupled with Ochoa breaks and the right shots at the right time. To make it even more painful, Mi Hyun Kim and Jeong Jang were also in the hunt and, with a few breaks, might have claimed the title. But once again, as happened often in 2007, the Koreans were not able to close the deal when they had the chance.

Jee Young Lee at the Michelob Ultra Open
How in the world did Jee Young Lee finish 2007 without a win? She seemed to be in the hunt a lot, managed three top tens in Majors, and had three runner up finishes. But still, her second tour win eluded her.

Her best chance to win came at the Michelob Ultra Open. Through two rounds, the leader at the event was fellow Korean Sarah Lee. But Jee Young was in the hunt, and in the third round, she carded her career best 8 under par 63 to vault into a one shot lead at 11 under par over Sarah. At that point, the next nearest player on the leaderboard were a group tied at 7 under which included Suzann Pettersen, still looking for her first win on tour after her meltdown at the Nabisco a couple of months prior.

So, after three rounds, it was looking very good that a golfer named Lee would be taking home the trophy. But there were some unfortunate surprises yet in store. For one, after three days of pretty benign conditions, suddenly the weather got a lot worse. Suzann Pettersen charged up the leaderboard, while Sarah Lee in particular struggled right out of the gate and went two over par on the front nine. Jee Young did better, going even par on the front nine, but she missed a short par save on 10 and fell into a tie with Pettersen for the lead. For the rest of the day, those two would duke it out for the title.

On the next few holes, Jee Young scrambled for par. But on the 14th, she had more trouble right from the tee and made bogey. For the first time in days, someone not named Lee led the tournament. But Jee Young kept fighting: on the next hole, a par five, she put her second shot into a terrible lie in the bunker, one where she could not even get a decent stance to hit the ball. But she hit a spectacular shot from there to two feet, made birdie, and moved back into a tie for the lead.

Pettersen wound up finishing the day at 10 under, so if Jee Young could somehow get one more birdie, the win would be hers. Of course, there was still plenty of danger, and she could just as easily screw up and drop shots. She missed a birdie putt by just a little on 16, hit a gorgeous birdie try on 17 that just turned off line at the end, and made par on 18 despite a fantastic drive. So it was on to a playoff. On the first two playoff holes, Jee Young did not leave herself with a good birdie try either time, but made par nonetheless. Pettersen was not able to cash in on an 8 foot birdie on the second playoff hole, so they played it a third time.

On that third try, Jee Young finally hit a good approach to give herself her own 8 footer for birdie. Pettersen, more than twice as far away, missed her birdie try. Then Jee Young had her shot. She hit a good one that just missed the hole, rolling a foot by. Then, without even concentrating, she tried to tap her par save in - and missed, thus handing the win to Pettersen on a silver platter. Pettersen would go on to win 5 times in total in 2007, while Lee would not win at all.

Korea loses the Kyoraku Cup
The Kyoraku Cup is the annual Korea-Japan women's team golf match. In the last few years, it has been dominated by Korea, who still nonetheless get most of their top guns to attend every year. The Japanese, meanwhile, have started sending fewer and fewer of their top players to this event, although there are always a few of them every year.

This year, the event took place in Japan, and as usual, the Koreans sent a murderers row of top talents to take part. Se Ri Pak, Mi Hyun Kim, Jeong Jang, Seon Hwa Lee and Jee Young Lee were among those representing the LPGA, while the KLPGA was represented by top star Ji Yai Shin and two other multiple winners, Eun Hee Ji and Sun Ju Ahn. From the JLPGA came three more strong Korean talents, including former KLPGA #1 player Bo Bae Song. Head to toe, it was a powerful assemblage. Even the nagging injuries plaguing Se Ri and Kimmie looked like they would be only minor annoyances.

And indeed, it looked as though they would make quick work of the Japanese team at first. After the first round was half done, the LPGA stars were doing their part, with Seon Hwa, JJ, Jee Young, and Se Ri all capturing wins (Kimmie sat out the action on day one, Se Ri was gone on day two, as she had to get ready for the Lexus Cup tournament the following week). The Korean squad had taken a solid 11-5 point lead, and three of the remaining four matches on the course were close. If the Koreans even won one of those matches, they would secure a lead after the day ended.

But amazingly, they won none of them. The Japanese players time and again pulled victory out of the air, often on the final hole. Indeed, Ji Yai Shin, Eun Hee Ji and Sun Ju Ahn had to watch in horror as all three of their opponents made birdie on the final hole to claim the win. For Ahn, it was particularly tough, as she had had several opportunities to win her match earlier, but missed them all, including a heartbreaking 2 foot missed putt on the 17th hole. And so, after the first day, it was Japan, not Korea, who had the 2 point lead, 13-11. It was one of the few times the Koreans had trailed any round of this event in the past 6 years.

In round two, much the same thing happened. The Korean squad, powered by their LPGA stars, carved out a lead, only to see the Japanese turn it on at the end. On this day, Jeong Jang, Seon Hwa, and Kimmie all won early matches, with Sun Ju Ahn and Hyun Ju Shin also chipping in early wins. Eun Hee Ji was still struggling and lost again, and Shi Hyun Ahn lost, but the Koreans still had a 22-18 lead with four matches on the course. They just needed a win and a tie from those matches to claim the trophy.

But once again, Ji Yai Shin could not get the job done; Sarah Lee also lost; and Bo Bae Song fell as well. The Japanese had taken a 24-22 lead, and now Jee Young Lee had to win her match to even tie. Fortunately, she rescued herself from a dicey situation off the tee on the final hole, hit a superlative iron to a foot, and made birdie to claim the win. After two days of competition, the Cup was all tied.

It was amazing that it even got to that point. The Korean squad was so loaded that it looked like this one would be an easy romp in the park, but the Japanese refused to cave. Now a playoff happened, with each team sending one representative out to play one hole; if one of the players beat the other, the cup would belong to that team.

The first match pitted Seon Hwa Lee against Sakura Yokomine; they both tied. In the second tiebreaker, JLPGA star Mi Jeong Jeon, who had won on this course in the past, tied Shinobu Moromizato. The longer this went on, the more likely the Koreans would win, since they had the deeper team. In the third match, Jeong Jang faced Miho Koga. But JJ missed a short par save after a great bunker shot, Koga dunked her putt, and Japan had the cup. It was incredibly close all week, so the Koreans didn't exactly get slaughtered, but they still lost, something few at the start of the week would have expected could happen.

What went wrong? Look no further than the JLPGA/KLPGA players. The KLPGA only claimed 2 points out of 12 possible, when Sun Ju Ahn won on day 2. Ji Yai Shin and Eun Hee Ji both lost twice. For Shin in particular, that's a very surprising result. Note that those two players went on to finish second at the World Cup just a month later, so it was clearly not a lack of talent that cost them. The JLPGA Koreans rode Hyun Ju Shin, who won both her matches; the other two JLPGAers, Bo Bae Song and Mi Jeong Jeon, only managed one point between them.

Great Performance that came up just short:
Christina Kim at the State Farm Classic
Christina Kim was in the midst of a great run of tournaments in late August-early September. Somehow she didn't get the job done at the Safeway (Lorena Ochoa had a little to do with that), but at the State Farm a little later, Ochoa was not there. Could Kim get the win Lorena had denied her the previous tournament?

Well, she certainly played like it was going to happen. At first, though, it was another American, Sherri Steinhauer, who took the lead. Steinhauer had not been having a good year at all, but as sometimes happens, she could seemingly do no wrong this week. After two rounds, she sat in the lead at 11 under total. But Christina, on the heels of a second round 66, was in second at 9 under.

On Saturday, Christina pulled out to a two shot lead at one point, but Steinhauer came back strong towards the end of the day, and when the action ceased, once again, it was Steinhauer who held the lead at 12 under. Christina was third at 10 under. What would Christina have to do to get a win?

On Sunday, she answered that question by playing phenomenally, paired with none other than Annika Sorenstam, who was having quite a good tournament herself. Steinhauer, however, still held onto the lead, moving to a two shot cushion despite Christina's solid play. In response, Christina turned on the jets, and had one of the best finishes of the 2007 LPGA season. On the par 5 16th, she hit a wonderful shot out of the bunker to give herself an easy birdie to move to 14 under, just a shot out of the lead. On the par 3 17th, the flag was near the front of the green, and she hit her tee shot to the left of the green. It looked like that might end her comeback, but not to worry: she proceeded to chip the ball right into the hole for another birdie, which provoked a patented Christina Kim whoop and holler. The gallery's roar was deafening, and Christina had finally caught Steinhauer. But at the same time, on the 16th, Steinhauer had her own bit off green magic, sinking a 20 foot putt from the fringe for birdie to again move into the lead.

Still, Christina was not going to give up. On the final hole, Christina again missed the green in regulation, although this time she was in the fringe, 25 feet from the hole. At the same time, on 17, Steinhauer had her own 20 foot putt for birdie. Christina proceeded to drain that birdie as well, leaping in the air with glee, but at virtually the same moment, Steinhauer drained her birdie to again retake the lead. Christina could just not catch a break. Steinhauer had not been playing well all year, but on this day, she could not miss from anywhere.

But Steinhauer still had to play the final hole, and as it turned out, she missed the green, landing in a greenside bunker. She did not hit a very good sand shot, and left herself with a lengthy par save for the win. If she missed it, there would be a playoff. But you just knew that once again, Steinhauer and that putter were going to get the job done, and sure enough, she drilled the par and won, leaving Christina with a second consecutive runner up finish.