Bush Harshing Virginia Vibe; or, Coyote Ugly in Williamsburg

A chill wind swept into Virginia today, bringing President Bush to Jamestown and high scores to Williamsburg. According to the AP, Bush praised the values of freedom and perseverance during his speech celebrating Jamestown's 400th anniversary. Well, with everybody free to ugly up the course today--it looks like there'll end up being more people over 80 than under 70 today--it's going to take a lot of perseverance to win this thing. Going into the back 9, Jee Young Lee (-11) has a one-stroke lead on Suzann Pettersen, three on Sarah Lee, and four on Paula Creamer. Stacy Prammanasudh is the leader in the clubhouse at -6 after shooting a 68, the second-best round of the day thus far to Angela Stanford's 67, which brought her to -3 and into a tie with Se Ri Pak at second in the clubhouse. Among the 24 people under par for the tournament, only Pettersen and Creamer are at or under par for the day. With Lee's bogey on the 10th as I was writing this, she fell back over par on her round and into a tie for the lead.

By the way, the AP reported that Bush visited the archeological dig site where artifacts from the original Jamestown plantation are being discovered: "he watched as workers sifted through remains at the active dig site. 'So this takes place every day?' he asked. Workers nodded yes." I'm sure Mostly Harmless's non-golf fans are as nonplussed as the President at our my obsessive LPGA coverage. Suffice to say that Sunday train wrecks are becoming the norm this year on the tour, and everyone slows down as they pass an accident on the road, so check back here for updates!

[Update 1 (4:36 am): Yes, I am blaming Bush for what is clearly a Mostly Harmless jinx. With a 39 on the front, Ai-chan shot herself out of contention, although any improvement on her +3 round over her final 6 holes is likely to get her her second consecutive top 5. Creamer is the only person with a chance to go against my prediction that it's very unlikely to put three good rounds together in a row, but if she can do it--go two-under over her final 6 holes, break 70, and finish at -9, that is--there's a good chance she'll win the tournament. With her own history of heartbreaking collapses this year, Pettersen will have a hard time staying at -3 for the day over her final 6 holes. It's playing so tough out there, Prammanasudh can legitimately hope for a playoff at -6. I guess Moira's 78 was the start of a bad trend today.]

[Update 2 (4:56 am): I only just noticed that Shi Hyun Ahn and Kyeong Bae withdrew with injuries after the first round. Jimin Kang, who's coming off a long absence after breaking her foot, ended up at E, good enough for a tie for 23rd thus far (and maybe better by the end of the day). Here's hoping these great players get back to 100% soon. And congrats to potential Super Soph Sun Young Yoo for her fourth round at or under par, her -1 today, and her T20 finish in good company with Lorena Ochoa and Natalie Gulbis. With Seon Hwa Lee T7 at -4 (despite being +2 through 14 today), it seems like the only Super Soph not having a good season so far is Brittany Lang. And that there are many young Korean golfers looking to catch up to Se Ri Pak (who just got another top 10 with her 70 today).]

[Update 3 (5:05 am): Whoops, with Creamer's bogey on 14, Pettersen (-3 through 14) is the only person on the course at or under par today! Seon Hwa Lee's birdie on the par-5 15th gets her to -5 and gives her a chance to catch Prammanasudh at leader in the clubhouse, but it's looking more and more like a three-person race for the win between leaders Jee Young Lee and Pettersen two shots ahead of Sarah Lee. Congrats to Siew-Ai Lim and Amy Hung for hanging in there today and securing their first top 10s of the year.]

[Update 4 (5:22 am): Jee Young Lee bogeyed 14 to fall 1 behind Pettersen. Both she and Sarah Lee need to make like Ai Miyazato and birdie the par-5 15th to put pressure on the leader. If they make like Creamer and fail to birdie 15, they have to rely on Pettersen to come back to them--under these kind of conditions and pressure, the best they can expect are pars on the challenging closing holes. It looks like Lee has the Super Soph lead tied up, but it'll be interesting to see whether Seon Hwa Lee or Ai-chan will get second--they're both T6 at -5 right now. And congrats to defending champion Karrie Webb, who birdied 18 to get into a tie with former champion Se Ri Pak and many others at -3, which will be good enough for yet another top ten unless Carin Koch or Morgan Pressel is able to play the spoiler and get to -4 by matching Webb's feat.]

[Update 5 (5:27 am): The Lees did it! And Pressel didn't!]

[Update 6 (5:50 am): Well, Koch parred 18 to make a lot of people who stayed in the top 10 happy, while Seon Hwa Lee's bogey opens the door for Ai-chan to beat her. At one point, there were three groups on the 18th, which isn't going to make it any easier for the three in contention--and yes, Sarah Lee bogeyed 17 to fall two strokes behind Pettersen, who's in at -10, and playing partner Jee Young Lee.]

[Update 7 (6:10 am): We have a playoff! Jee Young Lee and Suzann Pettersen.]

[Update 8 (5:57 pm): Been away from the computer all day--as spyder reported, Pettersen won on the third playoff hole after Lee missed a two-footer. Tough break for Lee; good for Pettersen, who's had some serious disappointments down the stretch whilein contention this year. And congrats to Phil for winning the TPC!]