Had a great time playing with the girls this morning. Between watching Pretty Cure 5 with onechan, which also involved doing the PC5puzzle we had already bought for her after it appeared in a commercial, and keeping imoto out of her mom's hair, not to mention some kakurembo, fusen catch, and chasing each other around the apartment, I only checked in on the U.S. Women's Open leaderboard a few times. It was enough to see what I was missing--charges by Lorena Ochoa, Cristie Kerr, and Se Ri Pak, while Ji Yai Shin, Angela Park, and Morgan Pressel were hanging tough--but given that Japanese tv coverage was over, the web is always on, and the longer I waited the more good recaps I could check out, I felt the choice to have fun with a 3-and-a-half year old and a 14 month old was a no-brainer.
So now that they're off with their mom to a friend's house to play, here are some things I'm most looking forward to on Sunday.
Can Anyone with the Front Ahead of Them Still Make Saturday Moving Day? Obviously the big question is just how low Se Ri Pak can go in her third round. She's already -4 through 13, with several birdie-able holes on the front ahead of her. At E for the tournament, she is only 5 shots off the lead, with a great chance that everyone in the top 7 will cool off on the challenging back side facing them. But beyond Pak also look to see if a bunch of very talented golfers stuck in neutral thus far will break out on the front tomorrow morning. Perhaps 2007 winner Nicole Castrale and JLPGA star Mi-Jeong Jeon, both at +5, have the best chance, as they have the entire front ahead of them and are already -1 through 8. But don't count out veteran superstars Annika Sorenstam and Laura Davies, who are -1 through 12 and +4 for the tournament, Ai Miyazato and Young Kim, who are E through 13 and 14, respectively, and also in a tie for 27th place at +4 thus far, or even Natalie Gulbis (+1 through 13) and Paula Creamer (E through 16) from putting themselves in position to climb into contention by the back 9 Sunday. Sure, right now they're a long way back, but having the chance to start the last day of the U.S Open in a good rhythm on an easier side with much less pressure than the leaders are facing can be quite conducive to fantastic play. And all of them know how to make birdies in bunches. The only question is, who will?
How Will the Leaders Handle U.S. Open Sunday Pressure? That's the $560K question, right? It's possible KLPGA superstar Ji Yai Shin, world #1 Lorena Ochoa, rookie of the year race leader Angela Park, and Hound Dog's pick Cristie Kerr will defy gravity and turn this into a 4-player race. But Super Sophs Morgan Pressel, Jee Young Lee, and Julieta Granada will be tough to shake. (And don't discount 2006 rookie of the year Seon Hwa Lee and birdie machine Kyeong Bae hanging back at +2--both are -1 through 12--or, for that matter, Hye Jung Choi). Then there's JLPGA superstar Shiho Oyama, Jeong Jang, and, yes, Birdie Kim right in the mix, ready to move up the leaderboard if they get hot or those ahead of them cool off. With 10 people under par and 14 at E or better, we have a classic case in the making of talent and good play colliding with pressure and course layout/conditions. If this lead pack falters and the lowest score after three rounds is 210 or higher, we won't be talking about 4 or 7 or 10 or 14 people with a chance to win but instead twice that number.
Gotta give a shout-out in closing to my friend Moira Dunn, who started off the day in great position at +2 but immediately squandered it with a bogey-bogey-par-triple start. She's battled her way back to +2 through 14 and has decent odds to shoot her second 34 on the back in three rounds (which would put her in a tie with Mi Hyun Kim and others at +3). My folks, who watched her play early in the Wegmans in Rochester last week, said she was hitting the ball as well as they've seen her and it was just a question of getting the putts to drop. Clearly her irons are a bit off this week--she's hitting way more fairways than greens--but she's still made 8 birdies in 50 holes. If she can make that many in her last 22, she could find herself the surprise winner! Hey, stranger things have happened. [Update: Not for Moira, it looks like--at +5, she's in great company, but she has a better chance of winning the lottery than making up 9 shots on Cristie Kerr over 18 holes and passing 26 people ahead of her for the win.]
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