Pak Applies Pressure to Field; Field Replies, "Not in the Face!"

Sorry, a little allusion to Arthur's battle cry (from The Tick) there in my title. But by firing a 68, Se Ri Pak has reached -11 and extended her lead on the field. Sure, her rookie namesake Jin Young Pak is -7 with 8 and 9 left to play, Meg Mallon's 65 got her to -5, and Morgan Pressel and Jimin Kang are at -4. But no one expects Pak to come back to the field over the weekend, so those within striking range will have to play flawlessly over the weekend.

Frankly, right now the biggest drama in the tournament is who will qualify for the Women's British Open at the close of the round. By my count, the younger Pak, Carri Wood (who broke 70 for the second straight time and is T3 at -5), and rookie Ji-Young Oh and Marcy Hart (T7 at -3) are in. But then there's a tie (for 13th) at -2 between rookies Jane Park and Mikaela Parmlid and veterans Jill McGill and Sherri Turner. I don't know what the tie-breaker is, but Turner's double on 18 would be a horrible way to miss a chance to compete at St. Andrews (Parmlid's double on the 5th, her 14th hole, would be the second-most-painful way)--if it's by lowest Friday score, McGill's 66 would be a great way to earn that 5th spot! But Not-Yet-Super Soph Kim Hall could pass them all and make this question moot with a birdie on the tough 9th that would get her to -3.

The other interesting question is whether the cut line will be +2 or +3--well, interesting to those at +3, that is, not to Paula Creamer, Pat Hurst, Silvia Cavalleri, or Meena Lee, who could not make Friday charges, or Kyeong Bae, who uncharacteristically collapsed in round 2. In at +2 are Meaghan Francella and Natalie Gulbis, both dealing with injury troubles, and Julieta Granada. Whether enough of the 9 people still on the course at +1 or +2 will move back to +3 or higher will decide this one. Stay tuned!

[Update 1 7/15/07: Between the interviews and Hound Dog's summary, we have a bit more clarity on the qualifiers for the British Women's Open, but still no official word. The cut ended up at +2 and Jin Young Pak fell to -6, 5 shots back of Se Ri Pak.]

[Update 2 7/16/07: Ah, here's the answer on the Women's British Open Qualifier. Here are the third round interviews and Hound Dog's third round summary; life got in the way of blogging the third round, so I'll make it up by not-quite-live-blogging the finish today.]