Yeah, with Moira Dunn playing well again, the last few first-half ADT Championship qualifiers at stake, and the Wegmans almost equally close to my childhood and current homes--not to mention the need to do some late-night talk polishing in between updates--it's time to do some not-quite-live-blogging the LPGA.
Before I get into some early-round developments, a few words about the ADT Championship. I haven't checked this over that carefully, but it seems to me that with Young Kim's fine finish (-2 over her last 11 holes today, even with a disappointing bogey on 18) being a bit too little, a bit too late (at +5, she's currently T56), the 11th and last spot for qualifying by points will be around or better than $350K--how much better is the issue. Ai-chan entered at $330.6K, Angela Stanford at $316.6K, and Cristie Kerr at $302.3K. Barring something crazy, like a win by Pat Hurst or Lindsey Wright or a top 2 finish by Seon Hwa Lee, they have the best chance to pass Meaghan Francella, who's resting an injured rib muscle before the U.S. Women's Open and who stands at $367.4K. The wild card is rookie Angela Park, who entered the tournament in the 10th spot, at $358.8K, and who butchered the first round badly enough to almost miss the cut, but with a solid 71-72 comeback gave herself a decent chance for a top 30 finish. Will she finish high enough to pass not only Francella, but also Juli Inkster, who uncharacteristically missed the cut this week and so has to settle for nearly $373K in the first half of the season? If so, the "cut line" for the ADT first-half qualifier will likely be near that mark. Judging by last year's money distributions, then, we have several scenarios. If Kerr and Stanford can both get top 3s this week, that puts them in the 8th and 9th spots; Park and Inkster would then take the 10th and 11th, unless Ai-chan can steal a spot from one of them. Now, if Kerr and Stanford end up in the 4th-5th range, they'll finish the first half of the season somewhere in the high $300Ks, but so close to Park, Inkster, and Miyazato that it'll be too close to call. Finally, if they happen to finish lower than 5th, then it'll be Park and Inkster in the 8th and 9th spots and Miyazato and Kim in the 10th and 11th ones--assuming both Park and Miyazato finish well; if not, then Francella gets in.
So what is happening thus far with these golfers? Well, Angela Park is showing why she has such a big lead in the Rookie of the Year race; having gotten through her nemesis, the 13th, with a par (after previously making two bogeys and a double bogey on it), she stands at -2 on her round and +1 for the tournament (T29). Ai Miyazato, meanwhile, has matched Park's front-side 33 to finally get under par for the tournament; at -1, she's currently T19. Neither one has played the back particularly well this week, so anything can happen in the next hour and a half or so. With Angela Stanford parring her first hole and Cristie Kerr going off at 12:22 pm, they'll have a very clear sense of what they need to do by the time they make the turn--both have stated in interviews they like to watch scoreboards and are thinking about the ADT Championship (and for Stanford, joining Kerr on the Solheim Cup team). It will be very interesting to see how all these players handle the pressure today. In any case, it'll be great preparation for the Open next week!
[Update 1 (1:42 am): So how is Moira Dunn doing? E through 5 and still at -1 (T18). Ai-chan just bogeyed the 10th and Angela just birdied the 14th--they're both tied for 23rd at E right now! Seon Hwa Lee birdied the 3rd to get to -4 (T4). This puts her 3 ahead of Morgan Pressel in the Super Soph race, by the way, and 4 ahead of Miyazato and Jee Young Lee, 5 ahead of Sun Young Yoo and Nina Reis, and 6 ahead of Hye Jung Choi (among those still on the course).]
[Update 2 (2:04 am): The leaders are off and running and already some interesting things are happening. Cristie Kerr birdied the 2nd to get to -6, while In-Kyung Kim bogeyed the 1st and birdied the 2nd to stay 2 shots ahead of her and 1 shot behind Lorena Ochoa. Congrats to Sophie Gustafson, whose 67 got her to -2 and a chance for a top 10, as well as Brandie Burton, whose matching 67 got her to +2 and a probable top 40--they share low round of the day honors thus far, although by the end of their rounds Brittany Lincicome and Jimin Kang may match or outdo them (both are at -3 on the day as they enter their final 6 holes).]
[Update 3 (2:30 am): Well, Angela Park did what she had to do: shot a fine 69 today. At E for the tournament, she's likely to get a top 30 (she's T23 now). So we're talking somewhere between $14K and $20K when all is said and done. So it looks to me she's going to jump ahead of Meaghan Francella and probably Juli Inkster, as well. Ai Miyazato is still tied with her through her first 13 holes. The leaders have come back to the field somewhat: Ochoa, Kim, and Kerr are all 1 over in their opening 4 or 5 holes, which puts Mi Hyun Kim, Lindsey Wright, and Angela Stanford only 3 back of Ochoa, 2 back of Kim, and 1 ahead of Kerr. Seon Hwa Lee doubled the 6th to fall back to -2 (T10).]
[Update 4 (2:49 am): With Seon Hwa Lee falling back to -1, she's now tied with Jee Young Lee and Morgan Pressel at -1 in the Super Soph race. Hye Jung Choi shot a great 69 to get to E, which kept her 1 shot ahead of Sun Young Yoo, who matched her 69 today. Ai Miyazato and Nina Reis are both tied with Sun Young at this point in their rounds. At 2 over on the back, Ai-chan will need to make some birdies in her final 3 holes if she wants to have a chance to pass Meaghan Francella on the money list and ADT points list. More on the leaders in a second!]
[Update 5 (3:03 am): Well, before I talk about the leaders I should mention that Jee Young Lee, Seon Hwa Lee, and Morgan Pressel have moved into the Super Soph lead at -2 and Ai-chan birdied the 16th with the par-5 17th up next; at E she is tied with Moira, Angela, and others at 25th place. Now, Brittany Lincicome is -5 through 16 and at -4 for the tournament (T6). Along with Jeong Jang (-3 through 11) and Maria Hjorth (-2 through 10), she has caught Cristie Kerr (+1 through 6). Mi Hyun Kim, Angela Stanford, and Lindsey Wright remain at -5, 2 shots behind In-Kyung Kim and 3 behind Lorena Ochoa. So it's a 9-player race right now.]
[Update 6 (3:32 am): In-Kyung Kim birdied the 8th to tie Ochoa at -8 for the lead. I just got to see Ochoa just miss a 10-foot birdie putt at the end of the 2:00 pm webcast, and now I see that Kim bogeyed 9 to fall 1 behind at the turn. Angela Stanford and Mi Hyun Kim have now reached -6, 2 shots behind the leaders, and Cristie Kerr has gotten back to -5, so realistically we're down to a 5-player race (with Lindsey Wright falling back to -4, it looks like a victory and a berth in the ADT Championship is out of reach). Now, with Brittany Lincicome's length, I was looking for a birdie or eagle from her on the par-5 17th, but it wasn't meant to be: she only parred 17 and then bogeyed 18 for a 68 (-3, T10 so far). Like Lincicome, Ai-chan also failed to birdie the 17th, so she'll need a birdie on the tough 18th to have a chance to pass Francella in the ADT Championship qualifying race. Moira has fallen back to +1 on the tournament, +2 on the day through 13. She'll need a late charge to make this tournament help her keep her card in a big way.]
[Update 7 (3:53 am): Well, with her 71 today, Ai-chan got a moral victory by getting back to E for the tournament. It's good enough for a T21 right now, but she'll need some people to fall back to have a chance to get into the last spot in the ADT Championship available in the first half of the season. Specifically, she needs Cristie Kerr and Angela Stanford to finish worse than 5th. Barring that, she needs a lot of people currently under par to move backwards in a big way so she can make the roughly $37K she needs to pass Meaghan Francella. Unfortunately for Ai-chan, with Ochoa bogeying 10 to fall back into a tie with Kim for the lead at -7, you're likely to see signs of life among those over par today, like Seon Hwa Lee and Pat Hurst at -1 and Wendy Ward at -2. And those even or under par on the day have to be thinking about passing leaders in the clubhouse Brittany Lincicome and Jee Young Lee, whose 68s got them to -3, posting a number, and seeing what happens to the leaders at -5 or better. In essence, then, Ai-chan is rooting for charges by defending champion Jeong Jang, Maria Hjorth, and Lindsey Wright (all at -4) to knock Kerr and Stanford out of the top 5....]
[Update 8 (4:01 am): On cue, Lindsey Wright eagled the tough par-4 12th to get to -6 and within 1 shot of the lead! (So much for my writing off her chances a half hour ago.) Problem for Ai-chan is, if she wins, she's in and Ai-chan's not! On the bright side, Jeong Jang birdied the 16th to get to -5. Let's see if she can handle the 17th and 18th better than the leaders in the clubhouse did. It's hard to root against Cristie Kerr, so I feel bad that she bogeyed 11 to fall back to -4, but not that bad, if it helps Ai-chan....]
[Update 9 (4:13 am): Well, well, well, Morgan Pressel birdied 16 to get to -3, so she has a chance to do something cool on the final two holes. If she does, and if Seon Hwa Lee doesn't catch Jee Young Lee, the top 4 Super Sophs will finish exactly as I ranked them, with Hye Jung Choi, Sun Young Yoo, and Nina Reis making up ground on those ahead of them. Oh, and we have a new leader--In-Kyung Kim. By the way, if she ends up winning, she gets in the ADT Championships instead of Ai-chan. So just say no to In-Kyung and Lindsey for the win--although second would be great! Go, Mi Hyun--if Lorena doesn't win this I want you to! And Jeong, do try to do what so many couldn't do (including Pressel) and actually birdie 17!]
[Update 10 (4:24 am): Wright is going nuts--after her eagle on 12, she birdied 13 to get 1 shot behind In-Kyung Kim (-8) and tied with Mi Hyun Kim, who just birdied 14. Ochoa birdied another hole to fall back to +3 on the day and -6 for the tournament, only 1 shot ahead of Cristie Kerr, Angela Stanford, and Jeong Jang. With the tough 18th ahead of her, I don't think Jang will be able to make the comeback that a Japanese golfer by the name of Fujita did to defend her title this week on the JLPGA (she birdied 18 to tie Momoko Ueda and then beat her on the first playoff hole), but stranger things have been happening all day.]
[Update 11 (4:35 am): With Mi Hyun Kim's birdie on 15 and Lindsey Wright's bogey on 14, all of a sudden the Kims have a 2-shot lead on their nearest competitors--or they would, except that In-Kyung responded with a birdie of her own to get to -9 and Lorena Ochoa matched her to get back to -7. Cristie Kerr just got a birdie on 14 to pull even with Wright at -6. Seon Hwa Lee's bogey on 16 puts her back at T20 with Ai-chan, which would be a fitting place for her to finish--just as Pressel and Jee Young Lee ended up tied at -3 (T8). If it weren't for her two-stroke slow play penalty yesterday, Suzann Pettersen would have earned herself another top 10, by the way.]
[Update 12 (4:44 am): Well, defending champion Jeong Jang is leader in the clubhouse at -5, poor Lindsey Wright has fallen back into a tie with her, and Angela Stanford is 1 shot behind them. If Lorena or Mi Hyun can just beat In-Kyung, it looks like Ai-chan will qualify for the ADT Championship the easy way (she was a wild card last year and dominated the first three rounds). Moira finished at +2 (T36)--another disappointing Sunday, but still another step in the right direction for the week. So long as she keeps making cuts, she'll keep her card. Seon Hwa Lee just birdied 17 to get back to -1. Unfortunately, it knocks the big group at E out of the top 20. Maybe rookie Jin Joo Hong will oblige by falling back to E over her last couple of holes.]
[Update 13 (4:56 am): For yet another round, Angela Stanford can't solve the final 6 holes--she's fallen all the way back to -3 (T7), with two holes left to play. Lorena Ochoa is struggling, too, having bogeyed the 14th to fall back to -6 and 3 shots off the lead. She and Cristie Kerr, also at -6, will need some help from the Kims to have a chance to win. The leaders are on the final three holes.]
[Update 14 (5:03 am): By failing to birdie the par-5 17th, Mi Hyun Kim missed an opportunity to put even more pressure on the leader, rookie In-Kyung Kim, and stays 1 behind her. As Seon Hwa Lee's and so many others' bogeys on 18 show, this actually puts the pressure on the short-hitting Mi Hyun to remain at -8. Ochoa, Kerr, and Wright also failed to birdie their recent holes.]
[Update 15 (5:17 am): Ouch. Mi Hyun Kim just bogeyed 18. If Cristie Kerr can outplay the field on 17 and 18, she may just get that top 2 she was shooting for coming into the week. But it's looking more and more like In-Kyung Kim will get the win.]
[Update 16 (5:27 am): Holy shit--Ochoa just eagled 17 to get to -8, 1 shot behind In-Kyung Kim!!]
[Update 17 (5:41 am): All right, it comes down to 18--can the world #1 be knocked off for the third time this year? Among the ADT Championship qualifier hopefuls, Cristie Kerr finished alone in 4th at -6, Angela Stanford alone in 7th at -4, Park and Miyazato in a big group at E tied for 21st, and Karrie Webb in a big group at +4 tied for 49th. Depending on who wins and how the money breaks down, some of these people will be even more disappointed than usual at their results this week. It's literally too close to call right now.]
[Update 18 (5:45 am): PLAYOFF!!! Ochoa parred and Kim bogeyed 18.]
[Update 19 (6:05 am): This is the third playoff between the world #1 and a relatively unheralded player already in 2007--and as Meaghan Francella and Nicole Castrale will attest, it can be done. Moreover, Lorena Ochoa has not won a playoff in her career. But she made an incredible comeback to get there and Kim gave her some help. It looks like they're delaying the webcast to make ESPN2 happy. Too bad!]
[Update 20 (6:29 am): It's Ochoa! On the second playoff hole.... Watch the webcast for details if you didn't see it on tv.]
[Update 21 (6:54 am): Eyeballing the expected money, it looks to me like Ai-chan is not going to make the ADT this time--either Stanford or Kerr (or both) will pass her, and perhaps both will knock Francella out, too. Wait till the second half of the season, I guess.]
[Update 22 (7:12 am): By my count, both Stanford and Kerr are the last two in, knocking Francella, Miyazato, and Young Kim out. (Update 6/26/07: Right with people, not positions.) ]
[Update 23 (8:12 am): It's not to soon to look ahead to U.S. Open field. My dad reminds me you can find the preview and the pairings at the USGA Open site.
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