Monday, July 27, 2009
More Disappointment for Kimberly Kim
She lost the U.S. Girls 6&5 to Amy Anderson. Still, making it to 2 match-play finals for national championships will feel good in retrospect. If she can lose her teenage angst at the University of Denver, she could become a great one on the LPGA.
Futures Tour Update
Misun Cho got her 2nd win of the season and moved up to 2nd on the Futures Tour money list yesterday in New Hampshire. As Jamie at Crosscourt Birdies notes, Cho is now in the race for the 1st-ever battlefield promotion in Futures Tour history. 1 more win for Jean Reynolds, Mina Harigae, or Cho gets them automatic entry into any full-field LPGA event of their choice.
Whitney Wade had to settle for T2 thanks to a back-9 collapse, 1 shot behind Cho along with Paola Moreno (who closed with a 65), Gerina Mendoza, and Ashley Knoll. I was psyched to see Pernilla Lindberg finish with a 64 to tie Harigae and Samantha Richdale at -8, along with solid tournaments from Jennie Lee and Angela Oh (T14), Reynolds and Song Yi Choi (T26), and Hannah Yun (T29), but I was sad to see that Tiffany Joh and Onnarin Sattayabanphot missed the cut by a stroke, Hannah Jun and Jane Chin missed it by 2, and Pornanong Phatlum missed it by 3.
Playing in soaking wet conditions is never easy. Hopefully the weather will be better this week in Syracuse. I'm taking onechan and imoto there at the end of the week to see the folks and hang out at Drumlins as much as possible. The only player I wanted to meet who won't be there is Harigae. It's going to be tough to decide who to follow!
Whitney Wade had to settle for T2 thanks to a back-9 collapse, 1 shot behind Cho along with Paola Moreno (who closed with a 65), Gerina Mendoza, and Ashley Knoll. I was psyched to see Pernilla Lindberg finish with a 64 to tie Harigae and Samantha Richdale at -8, along with solid tournaments from Jennie Lee and Angela Oh (T14), Reynolds and Song Yi Choi (T26), and Hannah Yun (T29), but I was sad to see that Tiffany Joh and Onnarin Sattayabanphot missed the cut by a stroke, Hannah Jun and Jane Chin missed it by 2, and Pornanong Phatlum missed it by 3.
Playing in soaking wet conditions is never easy. Hopefully the weather will be better this week in Syracuse. I'm taking onechan and imoto there at the end of the week to see the folks and hang out at Drumlins as much as possible. The only player I wanted to meet who won't be there is Harigae. It's going to be tough to decide who to follow!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Ai-chan, Omedetou Gozaimasu
Having hit my allotted 73 updates in today's Evian Masters not-quite-live-blog (the number of holes it took for Ai Miyazato to secure her 1st LPGA win), I hereby christen this the official Mostly Harmless Ai Miyazato Celebration Post. The Constructivist family has already celebrated in traditional American/Japanese fashion: we went to McDonalds for lunch and then cleaned the house (everyone except imoto, that is, who's declared herself a nudist and therefore exempt from okadazuke and soji shimas duties). Congratulations to Ai-chan and thanks to The Florida Masochist, Hound Dog, The Squire, and the Seoul Sisters crew for getting the party started in our absence.
OK, time for some highlights from Japan, including a live interview with Ai-chan from Evian at the end of the clip:
For reference, here's what the tournament organizers (in charming French) and Golf Channel (in patronizing English) focused on.
Here's an interview from right after the awards ceremony, with Ai-chan still wiping tears from her eyes:
Next, a slideshow from youtube's biggest Ai-chan fan:
And a few words from Ai-chan herself. Will try to get a translation from the Full Metal Archivist after the girls fall asleep.
[Update 1 (7/27/09, 4:30 am): Boiling down a long post to its essentials, Ai-chan says she's happy, excited, and above all grateful for all the support she's received over the years. Among all the usual suspects, she thanks the Japanese players at Evian by name. Three parts of the post stood out to the Full Metal Archivist, one near the start where she notes how calm she felt all week, another in the middle where she says that now all her struggles and the experience she gained from them haven't been wasted, and the last at the end where she says this is a new starting line for her career. It seems that both she and I agree that there's no reason she can't sustain this level of play for a long while. I'll try to get a translation of Mika Miyazato's post later. Playing in a scramble today, weather permitting.]
[Update 2 (4:39 am): In the meantime, here's the LPGA.com notes and interviews page. Didn't know Gustafson's birdie attempt in the playoff was resting in a ball mark.]
[Update 3 (7:21 am): Nice of the SI Guys to spare a few seconds for the LPGA this week.]
[Update 4 (7:34 am): By contrast, here's the top sports recap show in Japan:
Can't wait to see the frenzy for the WBO!]
[Update 5 (7:36 am): Here's what it was like watching it live in Japan:
Ironic that I'd have seen more of the tournament if I were still visiting family there than being here without being able to afford TV!]
[Update 6 (7/29/09, 5:18 pm): Momoko Ueda's post (so far only in Japanese) is almost as cute as Mika Miyazato's, but she can't refer to Ai as "Ai-sempai" like Mika-chan. Think it's time for everyone to start referring to Ai-chan as Ai-sempai now!]
[Update 7 (8/26/09, 10:56 am): Momoko Ueda's team finally got around to translating her congratulations to Ai-sama into English!]
OK, time for some highlights from Japan, including a live interview with Ai-chan from Evian at the end of the clip:
For reference, here's what the tournament organizers (in charming French) and Golf Channel (in patronizing English) focused on.
Here's an interview from right after the awards ceremony, with Ai-chan still wiping tears from her eyes:
Next, a slideshow from youtube's biggest Ai-chan fan:
And a few words from Ai-chan herself. Will try to get a translation from the Full Metal Archivist after the girls fall asleep.
[Update 1 (7/27/09, 4:30 am): Boiling down a long post to its essentials, Ai-chan says she's happy, excited, and above all grateful for all the support she's received over the years. Among all the usual suspects, she thanks the Japanese players at Evian by name. Three parts of the post stood out to the Full Metal Archivist, one near the start where she notes how calm she felt all week, another in the middle where she says that now all her struggles and the experience she gained from them haven't been wasted, and the last at the end where she says this is a new starting line for her career. It seems that both she and I agree that there's no reason she can't sustain this level of play for a long while. I'll try to get a translation of Mika Miyazato's post later. Playing in a scramble today, weather permitting.]
[Update 2 (4:39 am): In the meantime, here's the LPGA.com notes and interviews page. Didn't know Gustafson's birdie attempt in the playoff was resting in a ball mark.]
[Update 3 (7:21 am): Nice of the SI Guys to spare a few seconds for the LPGA this week.]
[Update 4 (7:34 am): By contrast, here's the top sports recap show in Japan:
Can't wait to see the frenzy for the WBO!]
[Update 5 (7:36 am): Here's what it was like watching it live in Japan:
Ironic that I'd have seen more of the tournament if I were still visiting family there than being here without being able to afford TV!]
[Update 6 (7/29/09, 5:18 pm): Momoko Ueda's post (so far only in Japanese) is almost as cute as Mika Miyazato's, but she can't refer to Ai as "Ai-sempai" like Mika-chan. Think it's time for everyone to start referring to Ai-chan as Ai-sempai now!]
[Update 7 (8/26/09, 10:56 am): Momoko Ueda's team finally got around to translating her congratulations to Ai-sama into English!]
Evian Masters Sunday: Race to the Finish
As the 4th-round set-up from Evian Masters TV helps remind us, there's a lot at stake today for the 9 players within 3 shots of the lead and 15 within 5 shots at the Evian Masters.
Let's start with the co-leaders at -12. Playing in the final pairing, In-Kyung Kim is looking to become the 1st Korean winner in the history of the tournament and make a case for her inclusion among Lorena Ochoa's top challengers. Her playing partner Sophie Gustafson is looking to put her name alongside the prestigious European winners of the event and mark her return from her final-round collapse last June when she had a chance to run away with the Ginn Tribute. Meanwhile, Becky Brewerton is playing for her 2nd win in a row on the LET, one that would give her the membership on the LPGA that she failed to attain in last year's Q-School.
Playing with Brewerton and only 1 behind her is Cristie Kerr, who's let 2 wins at majors slip between her fingers this season, but has put herself in a position to join likely Solheim Cup teammates Juli Inkster, Paula Creamer, and Natalie Gulbis as this decade's odd-year-winners of the tournament. In the group ahead of them is my favorite player in the field Ai Miyazato, still looking for her 1st LPGA win and 1st win anywhere since 2006, which would put her alongside Hiromi Kobayashi as Evian champions. Playing alongside her and 2 back is Hall of Famer Karrie Webb, who's looking for her 2nd Evian win, which would be her 2nd win of the season and 37th of her career.
Helen Alfredsson is only 3 back and looking for her 4th win at Evian. She's playing with Paula Creamer, who's looking for her 2nd win at Evian and 1st of 2009. Like In-Kyung Kim, former KLPGA star Na Yeon Choi (3 back) is looking to become the 1st Korean winner at Evian, while current JLPGA star Yuko Mitsuka (4 back) hopes to become the 2nd Japanese winner, which would get her the same ticket to LPGA membership that Momoko Ueda got by winning the Mizuno Classic in 2007.
Needing to make an early charge are Hall of Famer Se Ri Pak--the only active Hall of Famer who hasn't yet won at Evian--and Brittany Lang, who like Miyazato and Choi is still looking for that 1st LPGA victory. Also at -7 are Wendy Ward and Stacy Lewis, fighting to displace Natalie Gulbis from the last automatic spot on the US Solheim Cup team, and Junior Mints Song-Hee Kim and Ji Young Oh, the former looking for her 1st LPGA win and the latter looking for her 3rd.
With this many players in the hunt, the winner is going to have to go low. And there ate certainly opportunities to do just that, judging from the early rounds. Jane Park bounced back from yesterday's 80 with a tournament-low 30 on the back for a 66. Angela Stanford shot a 33 on the front and still hasn't made a bogey today as she heads into the short closing trio of holes. Juli Inkster shot a 34 on the front and is looking to make a statement to US Solheim Cup captain Beth Daniel over her final 4 holes. And Brittany Lincicome impresses once again in a big event with 3 birdies in her 1st 6 holes.
But it's not just the Americans making noise early. Katherine Hull bounced back from her 4th-straight bogey on the par-4 2nd hole with 6 birdies between the 6th and 16th and could match Park's 66 with another on 18. Laura Davies made 5 birdies on the front on the way to her 32 there and is looking to make more on her last 2 holes. Shiho Oyama is -5 through 13, having birdied 4 of her last 5 holes, while Hee Kyung Seo, who has dual KLPGA and LET membership this year, has birdied her 1st 2 on the back to climb to -4 through 11. And Lindsey Wright birdied her 1st 3 holes and is -4 through 6.
Should be a great round! Refresh this page regularly, as I'll be updating it while my kids remain asleep--and hopefully until we find out who wins the race to the finish.
[Update 1 (6:06 am): Davies birdied 17 to get to -5 on her day; with her length, an eagle isn't out of the question on 18. Guilia Sergas is -3 through 15 and playing bogey-free golf.]
[Update 2 (6:12 am): Chie Arimura, last week's winner on the JLPGA, shot a 33 on the front and just bounced back from a bogey on 11 with a birdie on 12 (the hole that her compatriots up the leaderboard, Miyazato and Mitsuka, both doubled earlier in the tournament). Lincicome and Wright are both -4 through 7 now. Hull, meanwhile, couldn't birdie 17 or 18, so had to settle for a 67. Ya Ni Tseng got a moral victory, at least, by eagling the 18th to get back to E today and +5 for the tournament. Better luck next week, Ya Ni!]
[Update 3 (6:14 am): Jeong Jang also got a walkoff eagle. She's coming off wrist surgery, so that -3 finish over her last 4 holes is quite encouraging. Go, JJ!]
[Update 4 (6:21 am): No fireworks for Stanford; she finished where she started the back, at -3. And Davies bogeyed 18 for a 68. But don't look now, Lorena Ochoa is off to her 1st fast start this week. She's -2 through 5, -5 for the tournament, and -10 over her last 39 holes.]
[Update 5 (6:31 am): Bogeys on 14 for Arimura and Seo. But a birdie on 15 brings Johanna Westerberg to -3 on the day and a chance to make a late push up the leaderboard.]
[Update 6 (6:41 am): Wright birdied 9 for a 31 on the front. Lincicome doubled it for a 34. Sergas ended up with a 69. Meena Lee has birdied 2 of the 1st 4 holes to get to -8. Yuko Mitsuka birdied 1 to get to -9. And Na Yeon Choi did the same to get to -10.]
[Update 7 (6:59 am): Oyama birdied 18 to match Park's 66. She's the leader in the clubhouse at -5 for the tournament. Choi bogeyed 2 to fall back to -9. Paula Creamer birdied 1 to take her place at -10. Meena Lee is now -3 through 5 and -9 for the tournament. Lincicome bounced back with a birdie on 11.]
[Update 8 (7:02 am): Miyazato and Webb parred 1 to remain at -11 and -10, respectively. Creamer bogeyed 2 to join Lee, Choi, and Alfredsson at -9. Mitsuka bogeyed 3 to join Stacy Lewis and Song-Hee Kim at -8.]
[Update 9 (7:08 am): Webb has hit 51 of 55 greens thus far. Maria Hjorth is -3 through 10. Good to see her making a charge. Ochoa birdied 9 for bogey-free 33 on the front to join her at -6 for the tournament. Momoko Ueda heads into the 9th having birdied 3 in a row to join them.]
[Update 10 (7:10 am): Ai-chan birdied the tough 2nd hole to join Brewerton, Gustafson, and Kim at -12. They now have a 2-shot lead on Kerr, who bogeyed the 1st. Webb's bogey on 2 makes it 6 players at -9.]
[Update 11 (7:12 am): Westerberg ended up with a 68. Ji-Yai Shin birdied 10 to get to -3 on her day and -6 for the tournament. There are now 23 players within 6 shots of the lead.]
[Update 12 (7:15 am): Michelle Wie eagled the 9th to get to -5 for the tournament. She's caught Wendy Ward, who's +2 on her day.]
[Update 13 (7:19 am): Kim and Gustafson opened their Sundays with pars. But Brewerton bogeyed 2 to fall back to -11. So far nobody's broken the -12 barrier!]
[Update 14 (7:21 am): Seo ended up with a 69. There's a real logjam on the 12th. Scores for Lincicome and Wright haven't been updated in forever.]
[Update 15 (7:27 am): The players are as tiny as they were last year on Evian Masters Live TV, but I suppose I'll have to watch the leaders come in. Girls still asleep. Ueda makes it 4 in a row on the 9th, joining Wright and Lewis at -7.]
[Update 16 (7:31 am): The JLPGA's finest are out in force today. A bogey-free 34 brings Ji-Hee Lee to -5 on the tournament and Mi-Jeong Jeon is hanging tough a hole behind her and a shot ahead of her. Arimura birdied her last 2 holes for a 68 that brought her even with Seo and Westerberg at -3.]
[Update 17 (7:33 am): Meena Lee is now -4 through 10 and only 2 shots back. She's the only player in the lead chase pack making an early charge.]
[Update 18 (7:36 am): Erina Hara just birdied 13 to get to -3 for the tournament. The Japanese media must be going nuts.]
[Update 19 (7:37 am): Ueda makes it 5 in a row on the 10th. She's only 4 back now!]
[Update 20 (7:38 am): Mitsuka birdied 6 to get within 2 of the lead! Is this a JLPGA event??]
[Update 21 (7:42 am): Seriously, Jeon just birdied 9 for a 34 that gets her to -7. Your move, Ai-chan!]
[Update 22 (7:45 am): Imoto is up and drawing at the kitchen table. Took her and onechan to the driving range yesterday. Imoto swings like a hockey player, onechan like a baseball player. It was more fun than miniature golf, where the girls just wanted to throw their balls in the ponds and fish them out. Back to the action, Brewerton is on a 3-hole bogey train, her longest of the tournament. She's bounced back from back-to-back bogeys before, so let's see how tough she is today.]
[Update 23 (7:48 am): Ueda is now only 3 back and has a tournament-best 6-hole birdie train chugging along.]
[Update 24 (7:52 am): Ai Miyazato and In-Kyung Kim are now alone at the top after a Gustafson bogey on 4. Sorry, Inky, but I'm rooting for Ai-chan.]
[Update 25 (7:54 am): There are still 11 players within 3 shots of the lead. But an Ochoa double on 12--that hole again!--dropped her back to -4.]
[Update 26 (7:57 am): Meena Lee is now -5 on her round, too. So here's how the leaderbard looks right now:
-12 Ai-chan, Inky
-11 Lee, Kerr, Gustafson
-9 Ueda, Mitsuka, Alfredsson, Creamer, Webb, Brewerton
Wow!]
[Update 27 (8:00 am): Darn it, Ai-chan just bogeyed the par-4 6th. Onechan will be happy to hear that Webb birdied it. She's rooting for Webb and Creamer; we'll see whose player wins!]
[Update 28 (8:02 am): Ueda's birdie train ends on 12. Mitsuka bogeyed 7 to join her at -9. Shin is now -4 on the day and -7 overall. And Gustafson birdied 5 to tie Kim for the lead at -12.]
[Update 29 (8:03 am): Creamer joins Webb at -10 with a birdie on 7.]
[Update 30 (8:04 am): Evian Masters Live TV moves around and zooms in, so I probably won't be doing what I did last year and confusing Choi, Alfredsson, and Angela Park--who, by the way, is definitely not retiring.]
[Update 31 (8:07 am): Natalie Gulbis is -2 with 4 to go--she needs to make a move to get some Solheim Cup points and make it harder to knck her out of the #10 spot.]
[Update 32 (8:11 am): Some weird glitches on Wright's and Lincicome's scorecards right now.]
[Update 33 (8:33 am): Onechan woke up and kicked me off the computer I was on. I'm now on the backup laptop we got fixed in Akihabara in June. So it's fitting that Yuko Mitsuka birdied 4 of her last 6 holes on the front for a 32 that has brought her into a tie for the lead a -12 with Gustafson, Inky, Kerr, and...yes...Ai-chan, who birdied the par-3 8th for the 3rd time this week.]
[Update 34 (8:38 am): Ueda bogeyed the 13th to fall back to -4 on her day. Wright shot a 38 on the back for a 69 that ties her with Oyama and Karine Icher (who als shot a 69 today) at -5. Lincicome ended up with a 70 that puts her at -4. Hjorth can become the new leader in the clubhouse with a par or better on 18.]
[Update 35 (8:44 am): Anna Nordqvist has birdied 3 of her 1st 4 holes on the back to get to -8. She's only 4 back now. But Meena Lee bogeyed the 12th and 13th, just like yesterday, to fall back to -3 on her day and -9 for the tournament. Still only 3 back.]
[Update 36 (8:46 am): It's a bitter back for Ochoa, with a bogey to follow up on her 2nd double of the side. All of a sudden she's +2 on her day. So much for building momentum heading into the WBO.]
[Update 37 (8:51 am): Hjorth parred 18 for a 69 that brings her to -6. She's the leader in the clubhouse for the moment. Just saw Shin make a nice lag putt on 18. Hopefully it was for eagle. If she does birdie that hole, she'll tie Hjorth.]
[Update 38 (8:54 am): Ai-chan is the 1st to break the -12 barrier! Here's a leaderboard update:
-13 Ai-chan
-12 Mitsuka, Kerr, Gustafson
-11 Brewerton, Inky
-10 Lee, Choi, Alfredsson, Creamer, Webb
Wow!]
[Update 39 (8:56 am): Ueda needs to regroup after another bogey on the par-5 15th. Let's see if she can birdie 17 and 18!]
[Update 40 (9:02 am): Creamer and Webb have joined Inky and Brewerton at -11. Shin did birdie 18 for a 69 that makes her co-leader-in-the-clubhouse with Hjorth at -6. But Ji-Hee Lee can pass them with a par or better on 18.]
[Update 41 (9:05 am): Gustafson is the next to break the -12 barrier. Meena Lee just birdied 14 and 15 to get back to -5 on her day and -11 overall.]
[Update 42 (9:08 am): But Ai-chan birdied 11--her 3rd in her last 4 holes--to take the lead alone at -14. The 12th will be key for her. Ji-Hee Lee birdied 18 for a bogey-free 67 that brings her to -8. Momo-chan can catch her with a birdie on 18 and Jeon has 2 holes left in which to pass her.]
[Update 43 (9:11 am): Wie birdied 3 of her last 4 holes to offset her 3 earler bogeys on the back and finish with a 70. She's T21 at -5 right now, 2 shots ahead of Gulbis (T30). Ward is +3 through 14 and -4 for the tournament. She still has time to make a statement.]
[Update 44 (9:18 am): Ueda made a nice 2-putt on 18. Unfortunately it was only for par. Her 69--and -7 overall total--has to feel disappointing after that ride on the birdie train for 6 holes, but breaking 70 in 3 of her 4 rounds this week is a great confidence-builder heading into the WBO.]
[Update 45 (9:21 am): Kerr and Mitsuka have joined Gustafson at -13, 1 behind Ai-chan. Time is running out for Meena Lee. She'll need to go birdie-eagle on 17 and 18 for a 64 that would get her to -14 in order to have a chance to win.]
[Update 46 (9:26 am): Lee birdied 17! Wow! Jeon absolutely stuck her approach on 18--and tapped it in. Her 2nd-straight 68 makes her the leader in the clubhouse at 9. Ji had a 6-footer for what I hope is a birdie--and canned it. Nope, it was for par. Still, a top 30 after winning the U.S. Women's Open is just fine.]
[Update 47 (9:30 am): Time for a leaderboard update. Let's limit it to those double digits under par.
-14 Ai-chan (through 12)
-13 Mitsuka (through 13), Kerr (through 11), Gustafson (through 11)
-12 Lee (through 17)
-11 Brewerton (through 11), Inky (through 11), Creamer (through 13), Webb (through 12)
-10 Choi (through 13)
Gambare, Ai-chan!]
[Update 48 (9:34 am): Kerr bogeyed 12 to fall back to -12. Choi bogeyed 14 and is now -9, tied with Jeon and Alfredsson. Meena Lee is trying to chip in from just off the back of the green. No, looks like she putted it--good speed, but it just slid by the hole on the right.]
[Update 49 (9:38 am): Turns out Lee's missed putt was for eagle. Her birdie at 18 gives her the low round of the tournament, a 65 that makes her the leader in the clubhouse at -13. But Gustafson just joined Ai-chan at -14 with a birdie on the 12th. With Mitsuka's bogey on 14, she and Kerr are 1 behind Lee and 2 behind the co-leaders.]
[Update 50 (9:39 am): Inky's birdie at 12 also pulls her within 2 of the lead.]
[Update 51 (9:48 am): Song-Hee Kim just made a nice 11-footer on the 18th for a walkoff eagle that ties her with Jeon at T10 (-9). Ward and Lewis are playing 18 now.]
[Update 52 (9:52 am): Ward stuck her approach to 5 feet and Lewis has a long eagle (?) attempt from just off the left side of the green. Oops, she was too aggressive and her chip went into the fringe behind the hole on the back right. But she quickly stepped up to the 10-footer and slammed it home. Ward calmly followed up with a perfect putt.]
[Update 53 (9:56 am): Ward's was for her 2nd birdie in a row, after 3 straight bogeys. Don't know what Daniel will make of that, or her T27 finish. Lewis's putt also gave her her 2nd birdie in a row and brought her back to E on the day and -7 for the tournament. She's tied with Ueda and Nordqvist at T16.]
[Update 53 (10:00 am): A Gustafson bogey on 13 means it's time for another leaderboard update.
-14 Ai-chan (through 14)
-13 Lee (65), Gustafson (through 13)
-12 Kerr (through 13), Inky (through 13)
-11 Mitsuka (through 15), Creamer (through 15), Webb (through 14), Brewerton (through 13)
-10 Alfredsson (through 15)
We should start seeing more birdies now as the leaders enter the 15th through 18th holes.]
[Update 54 (10:05 am): With Pak and Lang on 18 the lead groups are playing slow! Oh no, the live tv feed froze while Pak was contemplatng her chip from just past pin high on the left back of the green!]
[Update 55 (10:09 am): Phew, the feed is back--but just in time for nobody to be there for a few holes.]
[Update 56 (10:15 am): Oh, no! Ai-chan bogeyed the 15th for the 2nd time this week. She's tied for the lead now with Gustafson and Lee. Choi and Mitsuka are playing 18, trying to get back to double digit under par.]
[Update 57 (10:18 am): Choi faded a hybrid or fairway metal in from the right rough to the left side of the green, just off the fringe about pin high. She has 20 feet or so for eagle, I believe.]
[Update 58 (10:24 am): Pak and Lang finished at -8, btw, tied for 13th now that Brewerton bogeyed 15 to go to +4 on her round. Choi's decided to chip. She raised her arms as it tracked toward the pin, but hit it and bounced out somehow. She tapped in for what I believe is a birdie. Mitsuka made her 3-footer. They both join Webb at -10. Creamer's only at -11 headig into 18. She'll need to make an eagle to give herself a chance.]
[Update 59 (10:28 am): Creamer split the fairway and was just past the new fairways bunker. It looked like she went for the green with a long iron, but the camera couldn't follow her shot. Alfredsson put her mid-iron approach to the back-middle of the green. Less than 15 feet for an eagle that would get her to -11.]
[Update 60 (10:36 am): Alfredsson sank her eagle putt and saluted the crowd with a high fist pump. Creamer missed a tap-in for birdie. Here's how the leaderboard looks as Ai-chan plays 18:
-13 Lee (65), Ai-chan (through 17), Gustafson (through 15)
-12 Kerr (through 16)
-11 Alfredsson (70), Creamer (70), Webb (through 17), Inky (through 15)
-10 Mitsuka (70), Choi (71)
Come on, Ai-chan!]
[Update 61 (10:45 am): Ai-chan had to lay up. She waited for Karrie to hit her 3rd shot, waved back the Japanese TV crew, and calmly put a wedge about 10 feet from the cup on about the same line as Alfredsson's eagle attempt. It all comes down to this for her. Gustafson parred 16, so Ai-chan needs this putt to put any pressure on her. Kerr is -12 heading into 18. Inky's -11 heading into 17. Webb's pitch from the lettuce to the left of the green rolled right by the cup and came to rest about 8 feet away. She'll need that to stay at -11. I counted 8 "Silence!" signs that went up around the green as Ai-chan stepped up to her putt. And she made it!!!!!]
[Update 62 (10:48 am): Webb made hers, too. She's T5 with Alfredsson and Creamer, but Inky has a chance pass her with a birdie or better and Kerr needs an eagle to catch Ai-chan.]
[Update 63 (10:54 am): Things are falling into place for Ai-chan. Gustafson failed to birdie 17, so she needs a birdie to catch Ai-chan and an eagle to beat her. Kerr either hit a monster drive or had to lay up way back. Let's hope it's the latter, because she stuck her approach to the length of Creamer's missed tap-in.]
[Update 64 (10:58 am): Brewerton babied what I'm guessing was her 30-foot eagle attempt. Kerr's putt is a little longer than Creamer's, actually. She's really grinding over it. Big fist pump when she made it. But it was only for birdie.]
[Update 65 (11:00 am): Can Gustafson win this outright? She has the length to go for 18 in 2.]
[Update 66 (11:04 am): She's in the middle of the green, putting a little bit up and then down the ridge over 25 feet from the hole, so I assume she did hit it in 2. Inky left her chip from the left side of the green 6 feet above the hole. Gustafson's putt died on the lip. She tapped in for...par!!! Ai-chan wins! Ai-chan wins!!!!!!!!!!]
[Update 67 (11:11 am): Dammit, LPGA.com. You can't keep doing this to me. Gustafson did birdie 18. There's a playoff!!!! Here's how the leaderboard looks after 72 holes.
-14 Ai-chan (69), Gustafson (70)
-13 Lee (65), Kerr (70)
-11 Alfredsson (70), Creamer (70), Webb (71)
-10 Mitsuka (70), Choi (71), Inky (74)
Gambare, Ai-chan!]
[Update 68 (11:13 am): The carts are taking the players and their caddies back to the 18th tee. If Gustafson can put her drive anywhere in play anywhere that gives her a shot at the green in 2, she'll have a big advantage.]
[Update 69 (11:23 am): Man, if I had thought to have my twitter feed open, I wouldn't have had to deal with that little whiplash back there. Ai-chan split the fairway on her drive and looks like she's thinking about going for the green in 2. She hit a fairway wood, it looked like, but where the hell dd it end up? Twitter says bunker--behind the green, I assume. Gustafson had a good lay-up. She has a great look from less than 80 yards. But she didn't put the ball in an easy spot for her birdie putt. Looks like she's to the right of the pin, a little short of it on or near the fringe.]
[Update 70 (11:25 am): Ai-chan's sand shot from just past pin high right of the green didn't land soft and skidded 5 feet by, but she has a better angle than Gustafson for birdie.]
[Update 71 (11:29 am): Gustafson yanked hers from the start. Ai-chan's putt was really only 3 and a half feet--and she canned it. Then the tears started flowing and the hugging began. Mitsuka snuck through the sea of cameras to give her a quick one before she left the green.]
[Update 72 (11:30 am): Now it can be said for real: "Ai-chan wins! Ai-chan wins!!!!!!!!!!"]
[Update 73 (5:22 pm): Appreciate the linkage and congrats out there. To the good people at Golf Babes, the only thing I can say is domo arigato (and I've found that somen noodles work better than udon). To Hound Dog, arigato gozaimasu (but onechan is actually sad for Karrie Webb and Paula Creamer).]
Let's start with the co-leaders at -12. Playing in the final pairing, In-Kyung Kim is looking to become the 1st Korean winner in the history of the tournament and make a case for her inclusion among Lorena Ochoa's top challengers. Her playing partner Sophie Gustafson is looking to put her name alongside the prestigious European winners of the event and mark her return from her final-round collapse last June when she had a chance to run away with the Ginn Tribute. Meanwhile, Becky Brewerton is playing for her 2nd win in a row on the LET, one that would give her the membership on the LPGA that she failed to attain in last year's Q-School.
Playing with Brewerton and only 1 behind her is Cristie Kerr, who's let 2 wins at majors slip between her fingers this season, but has put herself in a position to join likely Solheim Cup teammates Juli Inkster, Paula Creamer, and Natalie Gulbis as this decade's odd-year-winners of the tournament. In the group ahead of them is my favorite player in the field Ai Miyazato, still looking for her 1st LPGA win and 1st win anywhere since 2006, which would put her alongside Hiromi Kobayashi as Evian champions. Playing alongside her and 2 back is Hall of Famer Karrie Webb, who's looking for her 2nd Evian win, which would be her 2nd win of the season and 37th of her career.
Helen Alfredsson is only 3 back and looking for her 4th win at Evian. She's playing with Paula Creamer, who's looking for her 2nd win at Evian and 1st of 2009. Like In-Kyung Kim, former KLPGA star Na Yeon Choi (3 back) is looking to become the 1st Korean winner at Evian, while current JLPGA star Yuko Mitsuka (4 back) hopes to become the 2nd Japanese winner, which would get her the same ticket to LPGA membership that Momoko Ueda got by winning the Mizuno Classic in 2007.
Needing to make an early charge are Hall of Famer Se Ri Pak--the only active Hall of Famer who hasn't yet won at Evian--and Brittany Lang, who like Miyazato and Choi is still looking for that 1st LPGA victory. Also at -7 are Wendy Ward and Stacy Lewis, fighting to displace Natalie Gulbis from the last automatic spot on the US Solheim Cup team, and Junior Mints Song-Hee Kim and Ji Young Oh, the former looking for her 1st LPGA win and the latter looking for her 3rd.
With this many players in the hunt, the winner is going to have to go low. And there ate certainly opportunities to do just that, judging from the early rounds. Jane Park bounced back from yesterday's 80 with a tournament-low 30 on the back for a 66. Angela Stanford shot a 33 on the front and still hasn't made a bogey today as she heads into the short closing trio of holes. Juli Inkster shot a 34 on the front and is looking to make a statement to US Solheim Cup captain Beth Daniel over her final 4 holes. And Brittany Lincicome impresses once again in a big event with 3 birdies in her 1st 6 holes.
But it's not just the Americans making noise early. Katherine Hull bounced back from her 4th-straight bogey on the par-4 2nd hole with 6 birdies between the 6th and 16th and could match Park's 66 with another on 18. Laura Davies made 5 birdies on the front on the way to her 32 there and is looking to make more on her last 2 holes. Shiho Oyama is -5 through 13, having birdied 4 of her last 5 holes, while Hee Kyung Seo, who has dual KLPGA and LET membership this year, has birdied her 1st 2 on the back to climb to -4 through 11. And Lindsey Wright birdied her 1st 3 holes and is -4 through 6.
Should be a great round! Refresh this page regularly, as I'll be updating it while my kids remain asleep--and hopefully until we find out who wins the race to the finish.
[Update 1 (6:06 am): Davies birdied 17 to get to -5 on her day; with her length, an eagle isn't out of the question on 18. Guilia Sergas is -3 through 15 and playing bogey-free golf.]
[Update 2 (6:12 am): Chie Arimura, last week's winner on the JLPGA, shot a 33 on the front and just bounced back from a bogey on 11 with a birdie on 12 (the hole that her compatriots up the leaderboard, Miyazato and Mitsuka, both doubled earlier in the tournament). Lincicome and Wright are both -4 through 7 now. Hull, meanwhile, couldn't birdie 17 or 18, so had to settle for a 67. Ya Ni Tseng got a moral victory, at least, by eagling the 18th to get back to E today and +5 for the tournament. Better luck next week, Ya Ni!]
[Update 3 (6:14 am): Jeong Jang also got a walkoff eagle. She's coming off wrist surgery, so that -3 finish over her last 4 holes is quite encouraging. Go, JJ!]
[Update 4 (6:21 am): No fireworks for Stanford; she finished where she started the back, at -3. And Davies bogeyed 18 for a 68. But don't look now, Lorena Ochoa is off to her 1st fast start this week. She's -2 through 5, -5 for the tournament, and -10 over her last 39 holes.]
[Update 5 (6:31 am): Bogeys on 14 for Arimura and Seo. But a birdie on 15 brings Johanna Westerberg to -3 on the day and a chance to make a late push up the leaderboard.]
[Update 6 (6:41 am): Wright birdied 9 for a 31 on the front. Lincicome doubled it for a 34. Sergas ended up with a 69. Meena Lee has birdied 2 of the 1st 4 holes to get to -8. Yuko Mitsuka birdied 1 to get to -9. And Na Yeon Choi did the same to get to -10.]
[Update 7 (6:59 am): Oyama birdied 18 to match Park's 66. She's the leader in the clubhouse at -5 for the tournament. Choi bogeyed 2 to fall back to -9. Paula Creamer birdied 1 to take her place at -10. Meena Lee is now -3 through 5 and -9 for the tournament. Lincicome bounced back with a birdie on 11.]
[Update 8 (7:02 am): Miyazato and Webb parred 1 to remain at -11 and -10, respectively. Creamer bogeyed 2 to join Lee, Choi, and Alfredsson at -9. Mitsuka bogeyed 3 to join Stacy Lewis and Song-Hee Kim at -8.]
[Update 9 (7:08 am): Webb has hit 51 of 55 greens thus far. Maria Hjorth is -3 through 10. Good to see her making a charge. Ochoa birdied 9 for bogey-free 33 on the front to join her at -6 for the tournament. Momoko Ueda heads into the 9th having birdied 3 in a row to join them.]
[Update 10 (7:10 am): Ai-chan birdied the tough 2nd hole to join Brewerton, Gustafson, and Kim at -12. They now have a 2-shot lead on Kerr, who bogeyed the 1st. Webb's bogey on 2 makes it 6 players at -9.]
[Update 11 (7:12 am): Westerberg ended up with a 68. Ji-Yai Shin birdied 10 to get to -3 on her day and -6 for the tournament. There are now 23 players within 6 shots of the lead.]
[Update 12 (7:15 am): Michelle Wie eagled the 9th to get to -5 for the tournament. She's caught Wendy Ward, who's +2 on her day.]
[Update 13 (7:19 am): Kim and Gustafson opened their Sundays with pars. But Brewerton bogeyed 2 to fall back to -11. So far nobody's broken the -12 barrier!]
[Update 14 (7:21 am): Seo ended up with a 69. There's a real logjam on the 12th. Scores for Lincicome and Wright haven't been updated in forever.]
[Update 15 (7:27 am): The players are as tiny as they were last year on Evian Masters Live TV, but I suppose I'll have to watch the leaders come in. Girls still asleep. Ueda makes it 4 in a row on the 9th, joining Wright and Lewis at -7.]
[Update 16 (7:31 am): The JLPGA's finest are out in force today. A bogey-free 34 brings Ji-Hee Lee to -5 on the tournament and Mi-Jeong Jeon is hanging tough a hole behind her and a shot ahead of her. Arimura birdied her last 2 holes for a 68 that brought her even with Seo and Westerberg at -3.]
[Update 17 (7:33 am): Meena Lee is now -4 through 10 and only 2 shots back. She's the only player in the lead chase pack making an early charge.]
[Update 18 (7:36 am): Erina Hara just birdied 13 to get to -3 for the tournament. The Japanese media must be going nuts.]
[Update 19 (7:37 am): Ueda makes it 5 in a row on the 10th. She's only 4 back now!]
[Update 20 (7:38 am): Mitsuka birdied 6 to get within 2 of the lead! Is this a JLPGA event??]
[Update 21 (7:42 am): Seriously, Jeon just birdied 9 for a 34 that gets her to -7. Your move, Ai-chan!]
[Update 22 (7:45 am): Imoto is up and drawing at the kitchen table. Took her and onechan to the driving range yesterday. Imoto swings like a hockey player, onechan like a baseball player. It was more fun than miniature golf, where the girls just wanted to throw their balls in the ponds and fish them out. Back to the action, Brewerton is on a 3-hole bogey train, her longest of the tournament. She's bounced back from back-to-back bogeys before, so let's see how tough she is today.]
[Update 23 (7:48 am): Ueda is now only 3 back and has a tournament-best 6-hole birdie train chugging along.]
[Update 24 (7:52 am): Ai Miyazato and In-Kyung Kim are now alone at the top after a Gustafson bogey on 4. Sorry, Inky, but I'm rooting for Ai-chan.]
[Update 25 (7:54 am): There are still 11 players within 3 shots of the lead. But an Ochoa double on 12--that hole again!--dropped her back to -4.]
[Update 26 (7:57 am): Meena Lee is now -5 on her round, too. So here's how the leaderbard looks right now:
-12 Ai-chan, Inky
-11 Lee, Kerr, Gustafson
-9 Ueda, Mitsuka, Alfredsson, Creamer, Webb, Brewerton
Wow!]
[Update 27 (8:00 am): Darn it, Ai-chan just bogeyed the par-4 6th. Onechan will be happy to hear that Webb birdied it. She's rooting for Webb and Creamer; we'll see whose player wins!]
[Update 28 (8:02 am): Ueda's birdie train ends on 12. Mitsuka bogeyed 7 to join her at -9. Shin is now -4 on the day and -7 overall. And Gustafson birdied 5 to tie Kim for the lead at -12.]
[Update 29 (8:03 am): Creamer joins Webb at -10 with a birdie on 7.]
[Update 30 (8:04 am): Evian Masters Live TV moves around and zooms in, so I probably won't be doing what I did last year and confusing Choi, Alfredsson, and Angela Park--who, by the way, is definitely not retiring.]
[Update 31 (8:07 am): Natalie Gulbis is -2 with 4 to go--she needs to make a move to get some Solheim Cup points and make it harder to knck her out of the #10 spot.]
[Update 32 (8:11 am): Some weird glitches on Wright's and Lincicome's scorecards right now.]
[Update 33 (8:33 am): Onechan woke up and kicked me off the computer I was on. I'm now on the backup laptop we got fixed in Akihabara in June. So it's fitting that Yuko Mitsuka birdied 4 of her last 6 holes on the front for a 32 that has brought her into a tie for the lead a -12 with Gustafson, Inky, Kerr, and...yes...Ai-chan, who birdied the par-3 8th for the 3rd time this week.]
[Update 34 (8:38 am): Ueda bogeyed the 13th to fall back to -4 on her day. Wright shot a 38 on the back for a 69 that ties her with Oyama and Karine Icher (who als shot a 69 today) at -5. Lincicome ended up with a 70 that puts her at -4. Hjorth can become the new leader in the clubhouse with a par or better on 18.]
[Update 35 (8:44 am): Anna Nordqvist has birdied 3 of her 1st 4 holes on the back to get to -8. She's only 4 back now. But Meena Lee bogeyed the 12th and 13th, just like yesterday, to fall back to -3 on her day and -9 for the tournament. Still only 3 back.]
[Update 36 (8:46 am): It's a bitter back for Ochoa, with a bogey to follow up on her 2nd double of the side. All of a sudden she's +2 on her day. So much for building momentum heading into the WBO.]
[Update 37 (8:51 am): Hjorth parred 18 for a 69 that brings her to -6. She's the leader in the clubhouse for the moment. Just saw Shin make a nice lag putt on 18. Hopefully it was for eagle. If she does birdie that hole, she'll tie Hjorth.]
[Update 38 (8:54 am): Ai-chan is the 1st to break the -12 barrier! Here's a leaderboard update:
-13 Ai-chan
-12 Mitsuka, Kerr, Gustafson
-11 Brewerton, Inky
-10 Lee, Choi, Alfredsson, Creamer, Webb
Wow!]
[Update 39 (8:56 am): Ueda needs to regroup after another bogey on the par-5 15th. Let's see if she can birdie 17 and 18!]
[Update 40 (9:02 am): Creamer and Webb have joined Inky and Brewerton at -11. Shin did birdie 18 for a 69 that makes her co-leader-in-the-clubhouse with Hjorth at -6. But Ji-Hee Lee can pass them with a par or better on 18.]
[Update 41 (9:05 am): Gustafson is the next to break the -12 barrier. Meena Lee just birdied 14 and 15 to get back to -5 on her day and -11 overall.]
[Update 42 (9:08 am): But Ai-chan birdied 11--her 3rd in her last 4 holes--to take the lead alone at -14. The 12th will be key for her. Ji-Hee Lee birdied 18 for a bogey-free 67 that brings her to -8. Momo-chan can catch her with a birdie on 18 and Jeon has 2 holes left in which to pass her.]
[Update 43 (9:11 am): Wie birdied 3 of her last 4 holes to offset her 3 earler bogeys on the back and finish with a 70. She's T21 at -5 right now, 2 shots ahead of Gulbis (T30). Ward is +3 through 14 and -4 for the tournament. She still has time to make a statement.]
[Update 44 (9:18 am): Ueda made a nice 2-putt on 18. Unfortunately it was only for par. Her 69--and -7 overall total--has to feel disappointing after that ride on the birdie train for 6 holes, but breaking 70 in 3 of her 4 rounds this week is a great confidence-builder heading into the WBO.]
[Update 45 (9:21 am): Kerr and Mitsuka have joined Gustafson at -13, 1 behind Ai-chan. Time is running out for Meena Lee. She'll need to go birdie-eagle on 17 and 18 for a 64 that would get her to -14 in order to have a chance to win.]
[Update 46 (9:26 am): Lee birdied 17! Wow! Jeon absolutely stuck her approach on 18--and tapped it in. Her 2nd-straight 68 makes her the leader in the clubhouse at 9. Ji had a 6-footer for what I hope is a birdie--and canned it. Nope, it was for par. Still, a top 30 after winning the U.S. Women's Open is just fine.]
[Update 47 (9:30 am): Time for a leaderboard update. Let's limit it to those double digits under par.
-14 Ai-chan (through 12)
-13 Mitsuka (through 13), Kerr (through 11), Gustafson (through 11)
-12 Lee (through 17)
-11 Brewerton (through 11), Inky (through 11), Creamer (through 13), Webb (through 12)
-10 Choi (through 13)
Gambare, Ai-chan!]
[Update 48 (9:34 am): Kerr bogeyed 12 to fall back to -12. Choi bogeyed 14 and is now -9, tied with Jeon and Alfredsson. Meena Lee is trying to chip in from just off the back of the green. No, looks like she putted it--good speed, but it just slid by the hole on the right.]
[Update 49 (9:38 am): Turns out Lee's missed putt was for eagle. Her birdie at 18 gives her the low round of the tournament, a 65 that makes her the leader in the clubhouse at -13. But Gustafson just joined Ai-chan at -14 with a birdie on the 12th. With Mitsuka's bogey on 14, she and Kerr are 1 behind Lee and 2 behind the co-leaders.]
[Update 50 (9:39 am): Inky's birdie at 12 also pulls her within 2 of the lead.]
[Update 51 (9:48 am): Song-Hee Kim just made a nice 11-footer on the 18th for a walkoff eagle that ties her with Jeon at T10 (-9). Ward and Lewis are playing 18 now.]
[Update 52 (9:52 am): Ward stuck her approach to 5 feet and Lewis has a long eagle (?) attempt from just off the left side of the green. Oops, she was too aggressive and her chip went into the fringe behind the hole on the back right. But she quickly stepped up to the 10-footer and slammed it home. Ward calmly followed up with a perfect putt.]
[Update 53 (9:56 am): Ward's was for her 2nd birdie in a row, after 3 straight bogeys. Don't know what Daniel will make of that, or her T27 finish. Lewis's putt also gave her her 2nd birdie in a row and brought her back to E on the day and -7 for the tournament. She's tied with Ueda and Nordqvist at T16.]
[Update 53 (10:00 am): A Gustafson bogey on 13 means it's time for another leaderboard update.
-14 Ai-chan (through 14)
-13 Lee (65), Gustafson (through 13)
-12 Kerr (through 13), Inky (through 13)
-11 Mitsuka (through 15), Creamer (through 15), Webb (through 14), Brewerton (through 13)
-10 Alfredsson (through 15)
We should start seeing more birdies now as the leaders enter the 15th through 18th holes.]
[Update 54 (10:05 am): With Pak and Lang on 18 the lead groups are playing slow! Oh no, the live tv feed froze while Pak was contemplatng her chip from just past pin high on the left back of the green!]
[Update 55 (10:09 am): Phew, the feed is back--but just in time for nobody to be there for a few holes.]
[Update 56 (10:15 am): Oh, no! Ai-chan bogeyed the 15th for the 2nd time this week. She's tied for the lead now with Gustafson and Lee. Choi and Mitsuka are playing 18, trying to get back to double digit under par.]
[Update 57 (10:18 am): Choi faded a hybrid or fairway metal in from the right rough to the left side of the green, just off the fringe about pin high. She has 20 feet or so for eagle, I believe.]
[Update 58 (10:24 am): Pak and Lang finished at -8, btw, tied for 13th now that Brewerton bogeyed 15 to go to +4 on her round. Choi's decided to chip. She raised her arms as it tracked toward the pin, but hit it and bounced out somehow. She tapped in for what I believe is a birdie. Mitsuka made her 3-footer. They both join Webb at -10. Creamer's only at -11 headig into 18. She'll need to make an eagle to give herself a chance.]
[Update 59 (10:28 am): Creamer split the fairway and was just past the new fairways bunker. It looked like she went for the green with a long iron, but the camera couldn't follow her shot. Alfredsson put her mid-iron approach to the back-middle of the green. Less than 15 feet for an eagle that would get her to -11.]
[Update 60 (10:36 am): Alfredsson sank her eagle putt and saluted the crowd with a high fist pump. Creamer missed a tap-in for birdie. Here's how the leaderboard looks as Ai-chan plays 18:
-13 Lee (65), Ai-chan (through 17), Gustafson (through 15)
-12 Kerr (through 16)
-11 Alfredsson (70), Creamer (70), Webb (through 17), Inky (through 15)
-10 Mitsuka (70), Choi (71)
Come on, Ai-chan!]
[Update 61 (10:45 am): Ai-chan had to lay up. She waited for Karrie to hit her 3rd shot, waved back the Japanese TV crew, and calmly put a wedge about 10 feet from the cup on about the same line as Alfredsson's eagle attempt. It all comes down to this for her. Gustafson parred 16, so Ai-chan needs this putt to put any pressure on her. Kerr is -12 heading into 18. Inky's -11 heading into 17. Webb's pitch from the lettuce to the left of the green rolled right by the cup and came to rest about 8 feet away. She'll need that to stay at -11. I counted 8 "Silence!" signs that went up around the green as Ai-chan stepped up to her putt. And she made it!!!!!]
[Update 62 (10:48 am): Webb made hers, too. She's T5 with Alfredsson and Creamer, but Inky has a chance pass her with a birdie or better and Kerr needs an eagle to catch Ai-chan.]
[Update 63 (10:54 am): Things are falling into place for Ai-chan. Gustafson failed to birdie 17, so she needs a birdie to catch Ai-chan and an eagle to beat her. Kerr either hit a monster drive or had to lay up way back. Let's hope it's the latter, because she stuck her approach to the length of Creamer's missed tap-in.]
[Update 64 (10:58 am): Brewerton babied what I'm guessing was her 30-foot eagle attempt. Kerr's putt is a little longer than Creamer's, actually. She's really grinding over it. Big fist pump when she made it. But it was only for birdie.]
[Update 65 (11:00 am): Can Gustafson win this outright? She has the length to go for 18 in 2.]
[Update 66 (11:04 am): She's in the middle of the green, putting a little bit up and then down the ridge over 25 feet from the hole, so I assume she did hit it in 2. Inky left her chip from the left side of the green 6 feet above the hole. Gustafson's putt died on the lip. She tapped in for...par!!! Ai-chan wins! Ai-chan wins!!!!!!!!!!]
[Update 67 (11:11 am): Dammit, LPGA.com. You can't keep doing this to me. Gustafson did birdie 18. There's a playoff!!!! Here's how the leaderboard looks after 72 holes.
-14 Ai-chan (69), Gustafson (70)
-13 Lee (65), Kerr (70)
-11 Alfredsson (70), Creamer (70), Webb (71)
-10 Mitsuka (70), Choi (71), Inky (74)
Gambare, Ai-chan!]
[Update 68 (11:13 am): The carts are taking the players and their caddies back to the 18th tee. If Gustafson can put her drive anywhere in play anywhere that gives her a shot at the green in 2, she'll have a big advantage.]
[Update 69 (11:23 am): Man, if I had thought to have my twitter feed open, I wouldn't have had to deal with that little whiplash back there. Ai-chan split the fairway on her drive and looks like she's thinking about going for the green in 2. She hit a fairway wood, it looked like, but where the hell dd it end up? Twitter says bunker--behind the green, I assume. Gustafson had a good lay-up. She has a great look from less than 80 yards. But she didn't put the ball in an easy spot for her birdie putt. Looks like she's to the right of the pin, a little short of it on or near the fringe.]
[Update 70 (11:25 am): Ai-chan's sand shot from just past pin high right of the green didn't land soft and skidded 5 feet by, but she has a better angle than Gustafson for birdie.]
[Update 71 (11:29 am): Gustafson yanked hers from the start. Ai-chan's putt was really only 3 and a half feet--and she canned it. Then the tears started flowing and the hugging began. Mitsuka snuck through the sea of cameras to give her a quick one before she left the green.]
[Update 72 (11:30 am): Now it can be said for real: "Ai-chan wins! Ai-chan wins!!!!!!!!!!"]
[Update 73 (5:22 pm): Appreciate the linkage and congrats out there. To the good people at Golf Babes, the only thing I can say is domo arigato (and I've found that somen noodles work better than udon). To Hound Dog, arigato gozaimasu (but onechan is actually sad for Karrie Webb and Paula Creamer).]
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Evian Masters Saturday: Who Will Make a Move?
I hope Marsha Evans, David Higdon, and the rest of the LPGA leadership are paying close attention to the ways the organizers of the Evian Masters have welcomed the international contingent in the field. Of course, when you watch highlights on Evian Masters TV, you find out how the French players did as well as the leaders, but you also get features like the one on the lengths taken to make the Asian players feel at home. The LPGA could learn a lot from how this event is run and promoted. A tournament doesn't have to be as well-funded as this one to have the kind of web presence it does.
Unlike in most American tournaments, they reshuffle the pairings after every round. With the field down to 74 now, they are actually going off in pairs today. There are definitely some surprises among those at the bottom of the leaderboard. Caroline Rominger is outplaying Mika Miyazato, Maria Verchenova is outplaying Ya Ni Tseng, and Guilia Sergas is outplaying Melissa Reid. But probably the biggest surprise of all is that nobody is making a huge move on a front side that can be had. Shi Hyun Ahn's 33 (which must be seen to be believed, featuring a double bogey-eagle turnaround) and Catriona Matthew's 34 are the only early scores worth writing home about, while Amy Yang's 3 birdies in her 1st 6 holes, Hee-Won Han's 2 in her 1st 4, and Eun-Hee Ji's 2 in her 1st 3 are the only exciting starts. There are far more disasters than even solid starts to report on, but I'll refrain from adding insult to injury. I don't know if the course is playing tougher because of all the rain this week, or what, but so far we're not having much of a moving day.
What this suggests is that the leaders are going to have to be sharp. It may be easier to move backward than forward today. We'll see!
[Update 1 (5:16 am): OK, Momoko Ueda has birdied both par 3s on the front to go -2 on her round and for the tournament. She's the 9th golfer playing right now to get there. Ji leads those on the course 1 stroke lower, good enough for T22 right now. Someone at this level is going to need to get into the mid-60s today to have a hope of being in contention tomorrow, unless all 9 players at -7 or better completely collapse.]
[Update 2 (5:25 am): All right, Suzann Pettersen has birdied 2 in a row to join Ji and Hee Young Park at -3 for the tournament.]
[Update 3 (5:30 am): Ah, count on Morgan Pressel for the weather report. Expect the scores to heat up as the temperatures do.]
[Update 4 (5:34 am): OK, Yang held steady for her 34. Han birdied 8 to get back to -2 on her day and for the tournament. But Pettersen continues to mirror Han's start--she just bogeyed 5, just like Han did.]
[Update 5 (5:39 am): Hope everyone is following the Evian Masters's twitter feed and that other tournament organizers are taking note of how to live-micro-blog an event.]
[Update 6 (5:41 am): All right, Lorena Ochoa just got off her 6-hole par train with a birdie on the 7th. She's finally under par for the tournament--only took her 43 holes to get there!]
[Update 7 (5:44 am): Tseng is still playing badly, but at least Verchenova isn't outplaying her anymore! Still, she needs to eagle 18 just to shoot a 72 today.]
[Update 8 (5:48 am): Well, Momo-chan got both the par 3s but neither of the par 5s on the front. Her 34 allows Ahn to hold onto low 9 of the day by herself. Let's see how Han does on the 9th.]
[Update 9 (5:49 am): Right now there are 6 players at -3, chasing Jin Joo Hong, who birdied the 2nd to get to -4, and Karen Stupples, who parred the 1st to stay there.]
[Update 10 (5:51 am): Her 4th birdie of the day on the 13th hole gets Johanna Westerberg to -2 for her round and -1 for the tournament. If she hadn't doubled the 1st, she'd have the best round of the day going. As it is, it's still tied for 2nd-best behind Ahn.]
[Update 11 (5:55 am): Ji Young Oh is now -4 on the tournament after her 1st birdie of the day on the par-4 3rd. A double on 14 brings Ahn back to -1 on her day, too. Looks like it's going to be tough to sustain good momentum today.]
[Update 12 (5:56 am): The 1st scores of the day are in and they're not pretty: Rominger 75, Mika Miyazato 77. Ouch.]
[Update 13 (5:57 am): Next: Tseng 74, Verchenova 77. Yeesh.]
[Update 14 (5:59 am): Jin Joo Hong makes it 2 birdies in a row and is the 1st player to reach -5 today.]
[Update 15 (6:09 am): I finally decided to check the LET Order of Merit, because I couldn't believe Hound Dog's recent claims that Gwladys Nocera leads it. So with her MC Nocera will fall from her #6 spot if Jade Schaeffer (+6 through 53 holes) and/or Westerberg (E through 50) can play well enough to pass her. But she won't lose much ground to #2 Marianne Skarpnord (+9 through 53) or #4 Melissa Reid (77 today, +8 overall), who will be playing together in tomorrow's 1st pairing unless Jane Park can't make a birdie or 2 in her last 3 holes. So that leaves #1 Diana Luna, #3 Tania Elosegui, and #5 Becky Brewerton with the best chances to make big moves up the LET money list this week.]
[Update 16 (6:29 am): Checking around the golfoblogosphere, Jeff Skinner not unexpectedly plays the nationalist card he claims not to want to play and calls on Creamer, Kerr, and Pressel to save the LPGA by beating the furriners. Whatevah. I'm more interested in revisiting Hound Dog's claim that the LET is the weakest by far of the major tours. Consider this: of the top 10 in scoring average on tour, only 4 are LET regulars and only 1--Melissa Reid--is under 70.50 (there are 8 on the LPGA and 22 with better scoring averages than Becky Brewerton, who's the 4th-best LETer). You'd think it would get better in the next 10, and it does, but there are still 3 LET irregulars in that bunch. You get out of the top 20 and nobody's averaging 72 or better, whereas you have to get to #39 on the LPGA before that happens. Yes, the JLPGA only has 12 players with scoring averages under 72, but they have fewer players than the LET does and of those going lowest only 1--Ai Miyazato--isn't a regular on tour.]
[Update 17 (6:32 am): Man, Sergas's 72 would still be the low score of the day were it not for Matthew's bogey free 69 (she's T37 right now). The player with the best chance to beat her is the JLPGA's Ji-Hee Lee, who could shoot a 31 on the back with a birdie on 18.]
[Update 18 (6:33 am): Han is -4 through 12, so she has a chance to go low, too.]
[Update 19 (6:43 am): Count Yang in, too, after her 2nd birdie in her last 3 holes. She has a tough par 5 and 3 short ones to go to improve on her -4 start to her day.]
[Update 20 (6:44 am): Ji birdied 8 and 9 to match Ahn's opening 33--hang on, LPGA.com now has Ahn for a 35 on the front! So that means that Ji has low front right now.]
[Update 21 (6:51 am): Yikes, Jane Park's 80 suggests that either her back problems are not behind her or her game hasn't recovered yet. She's officially out of the Solheim Cup captain's pick race. Laura Diaz's and Stacy Prammanasudh's MCs and generally terrible seasons should put them out of the running, too. Inkster's 73 is respectable enough to keep the Hall of Famer a front-runner for the 1st pick. It's up to Wendy Ward and Pat Hurst to displace Natalie Gulbis from the #10 spot or to seriously outplay Michelle Wie this weekend and next week. Let's see if they can do it.]
[Update 22 (6:53 am): Oh, and Stacy Lewis needs a win this week and a great finish at the Women's British Open to put herself in the conversation. She's parred her 1st 2 holes today. Let's see if she can get something going.]
[Update 23 (6:54 am): Ji-Hee Lee parred 18 for a 68. It's low round of the day so far, but Yang just needs to birdie 17 or 18 to surpass her.]
[Update 24 (6:59 am): All right, so how are those in the lead chase pack actually starting out today? Early on, Pressel, Stupples, and Alfredsson are +2; Pak, Webb, Icher, Hjorth, and McPherson are +1; Kerr, Creamer, Lewis, and Ward are E; Lang, Hong, Oh, Nordqvist, and Gustafson are -1; and Meena Lee is -2 (1 off the lead).]
[Update 25 (7:06 am): What the scoring patterns suggest thus far is that a low round will be worth even more today than on most moving days. If only a few people move in the right direction in a big way, they'll be able to pass a lot of people. Sometimes just holding steady is a victory. Sun Young Yoo got off to a horrible birdie-double-bogey-bogey-par-bogey start, but since then has fought back to E on her day with 5 more birdies and only 1 more bogey. With the 3 short holes left to play, she can still end up with 1 of the best rounds of the day!]
[Update 26 (7:10 am): Yuko Mitsuka parred her 1st hole. She'd better bring it today if she wants to keep her lead on the other top JLPGA stars in the field. Lee's 68 brings her to -4 on the tournament, while Mi-Jeong Jeon is at -5 after making birdies on 4 of her last 6 holes. With 5 holes to play, she has a great chance to post one of the best rounds of the day.]
[Update 27 (7:16 am): Wow, Yang also couldn't break 68. Let's see if Ueda, Han, or Jeon can. If Ueda does it, she'll have birdied her last 2 in a row and 3 of her last 5. Han will need to make up for her recent bogey quickly to do so.]
[Update 28 (7:18 am): Don't look now, but Lorena's -7 over her last 30 holes and she's played bogey-free golf to do it. She may be turning it around just in time for the WBO.]
[Update 29 (7:54 am): Oh no! Disaster for Ai Miyazato! She started par-bogey-bogey-triple!! Time to regroup, Ai-chan!]
[Update 30 (7:57 am): Still nobody going low. Ueda shot 68, Ochoa 69 (9 birdies and 1 bogey in her last 34 holes). So if Na Yeon Choi can build on her 2-hole birdie train (ongoing), she can put some serious distance between herself and the field. But Brewerton bounced back to the field when she hit -11, so anything can happen.]
[Update 31 (8:17 am): OK, maybe the leaders are leaders for a reason. Sophie Gustafson just eagled the par-5 7th to go to -3 on her day and -10 for the tournament. Paula Creamer birdied it to go -2 and -9, respectively. Cristie Kerr has birdied 2 of her last 3 holes to move to -2 and -8, respectively. The 5th 68 today, from the JLPGA's Mi-Jeong Jeon (which brings her to -5 for the tournament), is definitely in jeopardy for low round of the day standing. Ji has a chance to beat it with a birdie on 18, but I seem to recall saying that before...]
[Update 32 (8:22 am): I'm encouraged on Ai-chan's behalf that Seon Hwa Lee was -2 over her last 14 holes after tripling the same hole she did, the par-4 4th. But even more so by the fact that she didn't triple the 4th! LPGA.com almost gave me a heart attack! With her birdie on the par-4 6th, she fights back to +1 on her round and -8 for the tournament!]
[Update 33 (8:26 am): Ji Young Oh has birdied 3 of her 1st 4 holes on the back to finally offset her late-front-9 pair of bogeys and climb to -3 on her day and -6 for the tournament. And Becky Brewerton is back to double digits under par for the tournament.]
[Update 34 (8:44 am): Ji couldn't do it, either! That makes it 6 68s tied for low round of the day. Natalie Gulbis's 71 is looking pretty good today, by the way. Pat Hurst is +3 through 14 and E for the tournament and Wendy Ward is E through 11 to stay at -5 overall. Michelle Wie's 70 only puts her 1-up on Natalie heading into the final round. Ward and Wie are going to have to do something special tomorrow to make up any serious ground on Gulbis for the #10 spot on the US Solheim Cup team.]
[Update 35 (8:48 am): Ji-Yai Shin twice got to -3 for the tournament and both times fell back a shot. She'll need to finish very strong on 17 and 18 to have a hope of making a final-round charge meaningful. I'm talking birdie-eagle. Suzann Pettersen missed her chance with 3 bogeys in the middle of her round today. Lots of big names just playing for position tomorrow.]
[Update 36 (8:51 am): Speaking of position, Brewerton has taken the top spot from Choi. Ai-chan and Yuko Mitsuka have joined Creamer at -9, the former with her 2nd birdie in her last 3 holes and the latter with her 2nd in a row.]
[Update 37 (8:54 am): A double at 5 and a bogey at 10 have offset Stacy Lewis's 3 birdies on the front. She's back at -6, in danger of dropping out of the lead chase pack.]
[Update 38 (9:02 am): Karrie Webb is showing why she's a Hall of Famer. After a double on 3 dropped her back to -5 for the tournament, she's made 4 birdies and only 1 bogey to get to -8, just 3 shots off the lead, tied with Mitsuka (who bogeyed 9) and Kerr. Creamer's birdie to get to -10 leaves Ai-chan alone in 5th right now at -9.]
[Update 39 (9:05 am): A birdie n the par-3 8th--there sure have been a lot of them today!--brings In-Kyung Kim back to E on her day and -8 for the tournament. We now have 9 players within 3 shots of the lead and 14 players within 5.]
[Update 40 (9:07 am): Choi's 34 on the front makes it 2 players who have hit -11, bounced back, and bounced back from the bounceback.]
[Update 41 (9:09 am): Inky's 2nd birdie in a row brings her to -9 with Ai-chan. 2 of my favorite golfers are back in the thick of things!]
[Update 42 (9:13 am): Gustafson's -4 on her round today and tied for the lead at -11. Ai-chan is now -10. Great 35 after that +2 start!]
[Update 43 (9:17 am): Now Mitsuka is back to -9 after a birdie on 10. The birdies are coming fast and furious, finally.]
[Update 44 (9:19 am): Inky makes a it 3 in a row and joins Paula and Ai-chan at -10!]
[Update 45 (9:21 am): Time for Stacy Lewis, Se Ri Pak, and Meena Lee at -6 and Helen Alfredsson and Song-Hee Kim at -7 to get on their horses. The train is leaving the station!]
[Update 46 (9:25 am): Ji Young Oh made 6 birdies but 4 bogeys today and ends up at -5. That's going to be too far back to win. Brewerton is -12 and nobody among the leaders is backing down or backing up.]
[Update 47 (9:28 am): OK, well, Ai-chan bogeyed 10 to fall back to E on the day and -9 for the tournament. She had a weak finish Thursday and a strong one Friday. Let's see how many shots she can make up on the leaders today.]
[Update 48 (9:31 am): Man, many of my picks in this week's PakPicker are really letting me down. Precision players like Ji-Yai Shin (-3), Natalie Gulbis (-2), Morgan Pressel (-2 through 52 holes), and Kristy McPherson (-2 through 51) are not living up to their hot play of late. Seon Hwa Lee is barely hanging in there at E, and Mika Miyazato is out of it at +8. Guess I should have trusted Ji to shake off her celebration's aftereffects quickly.]
[Update 49 (9:34 am): Cristie Kerr is now -9 after her birdie on the par-3 14th. That makes it 8 players within 3 shots of the lead and 12 within 5.]
[Update 50 (9:37 am): Waitasec--Oh only made 3 bogeys, it turns out. Her 69 brings her to -6. Lang could become the co-leader-in-the-clubhouse at -6 if she can break the curse on 18 and actually birdie it.]
[Update 51 (9:40 am): Choi bogeyed 11 to fall back to -10. Song-Hee Kim bogeyed 12 to fall back to -6. Mitsuka doubled 12--just like Ai-chan did on Thursday--to fall back to -7. So it's even more amazing that Lang birdied 18 to join Oh at -6. If other leaders falter, a low- or mid-60s round tomorrow by either one of them culd win it for them.]
[Update 52 (9:42 am): Hold on! Brittany Lang actually shot the 7th 68 of the day and moved to -7 overall. She's right in it!]
[Update 53 (9:46 am): Ward has made 3 birdies and 3 bogeys today. As she enters the final holes she could put some distance between herself, Gulbis, and Wie by joining Lang at -7.]
[Update 54 (9:47 am): Oh, man! I wish LPGA.com would make up its mind. Now Lang is back to 69/-6. Did she bogey 16 or didn't she??]
[Update 55 (9:49 am): About time to get ready to leave for onechan's violin lessons. Webb has joined Miyazato and Kerr at -9.]
[Update 56 (4:55 pm): Wow, missed a lot, didn't I? Gustafson and Kerr made the biggest moves with their 67s, but 68s by In-Kyung Kim, Karrie Webb, and Helen Alfredsson bring the total to 10 on the day (yes, Lang's was actually a 68, after all!). Ai-chan had a chance to finish the day in the lead, but bogeyed 18 instead of birdieing it. Here's Hound Dog's 3rd-round overview, which goes into a lot of detail on the GC coverage.]
[Update 57 (5:36 pm): As Hound Dog points out, we're all set up for a Sunday free-for-all. There are 15 players within 5 shots of the lead, 9 within 3, and only 3 players who have broken 70 every round (Brewerton, Inky, Webb). I always like someone who didn't go low on moving day but is close to the lead for the win. That means that my pick Ai-chan and Hound Dog's pick Creamer are in a great position to go low tomorrow. I stand by my prediction of a -16 to -21 winning score. Nobody's going to back into a win with this many players in the hunt. That means we'd need so see something extraordinary from those more than 3 back. I'm talking 64 or lower, with more needed the further back you are. If you can't get to -15, you won't put any pressure on the last 5 twosomes.]
[Update 58 (5:45 pm): By my system, Na Yeon Choi, Yuko Mitsuka, and Ward, Pak, Lewis, and Song-Hee Kim are also threats to go low tomorrow.]
Unlike in most American tournaments, they reshuffle the pairings after every round. With the field down to 74 now, they are actually going off in pairs today. There are definitely some surprises among those at the bottom of the leaderboard. Caroline Rominger is outplaying Mika Miyazato, Maria Verchenova is outplaying Ya Ni Tseng, and Guilia Sergas is outplaying Melissa Reid. But probably the biggest surprise of all is that nobody is making a huge move on a front side that can be had. Shi Hyun Ahn's 33 (which must be seen to be believed, featuring a double bogey-eagle turnaround) and Catriona Matthew's 34 are the only early scores worth writing home about, while Amy Yang's 3 birdies in her 1st 6 holes, Hee-Won Han's 2 in her 1st 4, and Eun-Hee Ji's 2 in her 1st 3 are the only exciting starts. There are far more disasters than even solid starts to report on, but I'll refrain from adding insult to injury. I don't know if the course is playing tougher because of all the rain this week, or what, but so far we're not having much of a moving day.
What this suggests is that the leaders are going to have to be sharp. It may be easier to move backward than forward today. We'll see!
[Update 1 (5:16 am): OK, Momoko Ueda has birdied both par 3s on the front to go -2 on her round and for the tournament. She's the 9th golfer playing right now to get there. Ji leads those on the course 1 stroke lower, good enough for T22 right now. Someone at this level is going to need to get into the mid-60s today to have a hope of being in contention tomorrow, unless all 9 players at -7 or better completely collapse.]
[Update 2 (5:25 am): All right, Suzann Pettersen has birdied 2 in a row to join Ji and Hee Young Park at -3 for the tournament.]
[Update 3 (5:30 am): Ah, count on Morgan Pressel for the weather report. Expect the scores to heat up as the temperatures do.]
[Update 4 (5:34 am): OK, Yang held steady for her 34. Han birdied 8 to get back to -2 on her day and for the tournament. But Pettersen continues to mirror Han's start--she just bogeyed 5, just like Han did.]
[Update 5 (5:39 am): Hope everyone is following the Evian Masters's twitter feed and that other tournament organizers are taking note of how to live-micro-blog an event.]
[Update 6 (5:41 am): All right, Lorena Ochoa just got off her 6-hole par train with a birdie on the 7th. She's finally under par for the tournament--only took her 43 holes to get there!]
[Update 7 (5:44 am): Tseng is still playing badly, but at least Verchenova isn't outplaying her anymore! Still, she needs to eagle 18 just to shoot a 72 today.]
[Update 8 (5:48 am): Well, Momo-chan got both the par 3s but neither of the par 5s on the front. Her 34 allows Ahn to hold onto low 9 of the day by herself. Let's see how Han does on the 9th.]
[Update 9 (5:49 am): Right now there are 6 players at -3, chasing Jin Joo Hong, who birdied the 2nd to get to -4, and Karen Stupples, who parred the 1st to stay there.]
[Update 10 (5:51 am): Her 4th birdie of the day on the 13th hole gets Johanna Westerberg to -2 for her round and -1 for the tournament. If she hadn't doubled the 1st, she'd have the best round of the day going. As it is, it's still tied for 2nd-best behind Ahn.]
[Update 11 (5:55 am): Ji Young Oh is now -4 on the tournament after her 1st birdie of the day on the par-4 3rd. A double on 14 brings Ahn back to -1 on her day, too. Looks like it's going to be tough to sustain good momentum today.]
[Update 12 (5:56 am): The 1st scores of the day are in and they're not pretty: Rominger 75, Mika Miyazato 77. Ouch.]
[Update 13 (5:57 am): Next: Tseng 74, Verchenova 77. Yeesh.]
[Update 14 (5:59 am): Jin Joo Hong makes it 2 birdies in a row and is the 1st player to reach -5 today.]
[Update 15 (6:09 am): I finally decided to check the LET Order of Merit, because I couldn't believe Hound Dog's recent claims that Gwladys Nocera leads it. So with her MC Nocera will fall from her #6 spot if Jade Schaeffer (+6 through 53 holes) and/or Westerberg (E through 50) can play well enough to pass her. But she won't lose much ground to #2 Marianne Skarpnord (+9 through 53) or #4 Melissa Reid (77 today, +8 overall), who will be playing together in tomorrow's 1st pairing unless Jane Park can't make a birdie or 2 in her last 3 holes. So that leaves #1 Diana Luna, #3 Tania Elosegui, and #5 Becky Brewerton with the best chances to make big moves up the LET money list this week.]
[Update 16 (6:29 am): Checking around the golfoblogosphere, Jeff Skinner not unexpectedly plays the nationalist card he claims not to want to play and calls on Creamer, Kerr, and Pressel to save the LPGA by beating the furriners. Whatevah. I'm more interested in revisiting Hound Dog's claim that the LET is the weakest by far of the major tours. Consider this: of the top 10 in scoring average on tour, only 4 are LET regulars and only 1--Melissa Reid--is under 70.50 (there are 8 on the LPGA and 22 with better scoring averages than Becky Brewerton, who's the 4th-best LETer). You'd think it would get better in the next 10, and it does, but there are still 3 LET irregulars in that bunch. You get out of the top 20 and nobody's averaging 72 or better, whereas you have to get to #39 on the LPGA before that happens. Yes, the JLPGA only has 12 players with scoring averages under 72, but they have fewer players than the LET does and of those going lowest only 1--Ai Miyazato--isn't a regular on tour.]
[Update 17 (6:32 am): Man, Sergas's 72 would still be the low score of the day were it not for Matthew's bogey free 69 (she's T37 right now). The player with the best chance to beat her is the JLPGA's Ji-Hee Lee, who could shoot a 31 on the back with a birdie on 18.]
[Update 18 (6:33 am): Han is -4 through 12, so she has a chance to go low, too.]
[Update 19 (6:43 am): Count Yang in, too, after her 2nd birdie in her last 3 holes. She has a tough par 5 and 3 short ones to go to improve on her -4 start to her day.]
[Update 20 (6:44 am): Ji birdied 8 and 9 to match Ahn's opening 33--hang on, LPGA.com now has Ahn for a 35 on the front! So that means that Ji has low front right now.]
[Update 21 (6:51 am): Yikes, Jane Park's 80 suggests that either her back problems are not behind her or her game hasn't recovered yet. She's officially out of the Solheim Cup captain's pick race. Laura Diaz's and Stacy Prammanasudh's MCs and generally terrible seasons should put them out of the running, too. Inkster's 73 is respectable enough to keep the Hall of Famer a front-runner for the 1st pick. It's up to Wendy Ward and Pat Hurst to displace Natalie Gulbis from the #10 spot or to seriously outplay Michelle Wie this weekend and next week. Let's see if they can do it.]
[Update 22 (6:53 am): Oh, and Stacy Lewis needs a win this week and a great finish at the Women's British Open to put herself in the conversation. She's parred her 1st 2 holes today. Let's see if she can get something going.]
[Update 23 (6:54 am): Ji-Hee Lee parred 18 for a 68. It's low round of the day so far, but Yang just needs to birdie 17 or 18 to surpass her.]
[Update 24 (6:59 am): All right, so how are those in the lead chase pack actually starting out today? Early on, Pressel, Stupples, and Alfredsson are +2; Pak, Webb, Icher, Hjorth, and McPherson are +1; Kerr, Creamer, Lewis, and Ward are E; Lang, Hong, Oh, Nordqvist, and Gustafson are -1; and Meena Lee is -2 (1 off the lead).]
[Update 25 (7:06 am): What the scoring patterns suggest thus far is that a low round will be worth even more today than on most moving days. If only a few people move in the right direction in a big way, they'll be able to pass a lot of people. Sometimes just holding steady is a victory. Sun Young Yoo got off to a horrible birdie-double-bogey-bogey-par-bogey start, but since then has fought back to E on her day with 5 more birdies and only 1 more bogey. With the 3 short holes left to play, she can still end up with 1 of the best rounds of the day!]
[Update 26 (7:10 am): Yuko Mitsuka parred her 1st hole. She'd better bring it today if she wants to keep her lead on the other top JLPGA stars in the field. Lee's 68 brings her to -4 on the tournament, while Mi-Jeong Jeon is at -5 after making birdies on 4 of her last 6 holes. With 5 holes to play, she has a great chance to post one of the best rounds of the day.]
[Update 27 (7:16 am): Wow, Yang also couldn't break 68. Let's see if Ueda, Han, or Jeon can. If Ueda does it, she'll have birdied her last 2 in a row and 3 of her last 5. Han will need to make up for her recent bogey quickly to do so.]
[Update 28 (7:18 am): Don't look now, but Lorena's -7 over her last 30 holes and she's played bogey-free golf to do it. She may be turning it around just in time for the WBO.]
[Update 29 (7:54 am): Oh no! Disaster for Ai Miyazato! She started par-bogey-bogey-triple!! Time to regroup, Ai-chan!]
[Update 30 (7:57 am): Still nobody going low. Ueda shot 68, Ochoa 69 (9 birdies and 1 bogey in her last 34 holes). So if Na Yeon Choi can build on her 2-hole birdie train (ongoing), she can put some serious distance between herself and the field. But Brewerton bounced back to the field when she hit -11, so anything can happen.]
[Update 31 (8:17 am): OK, maybe the leaders are leaders for a reason. Sophie Gustafson just eagled the par-5 7th to go to -3 on her day and -10 for the tournament. Paula Creamer birdied it to go -2 and -9, respectively. Cristie Kerr has birdied 2 of her last 3 holes to move to -2 and -8, respectively. The 5th 68 today, from the JLPGA's Mi-Jeong Jeon (which brings her to -5 for the tournament), is definitely in jeopardy for low round of the day standing. Ji has a chance to beat it with a birdie on 18, but I seem to recall saying that before...]
[Update 32 (8:22 am): I'm encouraged on Ai-chan's behalf that Seon Hwa Lee was -2 over her last 14 holes after tripling the same hole she did, the par-4 4th. But even more so by the fact that she didn't triple the 4th! LPGA.com almost gave me a heart attack! With her birdie on the par-4 6th, she fights back to +1 on her round and -8 for the tournament!]
[Update 33 (8:26 am): Ji Young Oh has birdied 3 of her 1st 4 holes on the back to finally offset her late-front-9 pair of bogeys and climb to -3 on her day and -6 for the tournament. And Becky Brewerton is back to double digits under par for the tournament.]
[Update 34 (8:44 am): Ji couldn't do it, either! That makes it 6 68s tied for low round of the day. Natalie Gulbis's 71 is looking pretty good today, by the way. Pat Hurst is +3 through 14 and E for the tournament and Wendy Ward is E through 11 to stay at -5 overall. Michelle Wie's 70 only puts her 1-up on Natalie heading into the final round. Ward and Wie are going to have to do something special tomorrow to make up any serious ground on Gulbis for the #10 spot on the US Solheim Cup team.]
[Update 35 (8:48 am): Ji-Yai Shin twice got to -3 for the tournament and both times fell back a shot. She'll need to finish very strong on 17 and 18 to have a hope of making a final-round charge meaningful. I'm talking birdie-eagle. Suzann Pettersen missed her chance with 3 bogeys in the middle of her round today. Lots of big names just playing for position tomorrow.]
[Update 36 (8:51 am): Speaking of position, Brewerton has taken the top spot from Choi. Ai-chan and Yuko Mitsuka have joined Creamer at -9, the former with her 2nd birdie in her last 3 holes and the latter with her 2nd in a row.]
[Update 37 (8:54 am): A double at 5 and a bogey at 10 have offset Stacy Lewis's 3 birdies on the front. She's back at -6, in danger of dropping out of the lead chase pack.]
[Update 38 (9:02 am): Karrie Webb is showing why she's a Hall of Famer. After a double on 3 dropped her back to -5 for the tournament, she's made 4 birdies and only 1 bogey to get to -8, just 3 shots off the lead, tied with Mitsuka (who bogeyed 9) and Kerr. Creamer's birdie to get to -10 leaves Ai-chan alone in 5th right now at -9.]
[Update 39 (9:05 am): A birdie n the par-3 8th--there sure have been a lot of them today!--brings In-Kyung Kim back to E on her day and -8 for the tournament. We now have 9 players within 3 shots of the lead and 14 players within 5.]
[Update 40 (9:07 am): Choi's 34 on the front makes it 2 players who have hit -11, bounced back, and bounced back from the bounceback.]
[Update 41 (9:09 am): Inky's 2nd birdie in a row brings her to -9 with Ai-chan. 2 of my favorite golfers are back in the thick of things!]
[Update 42 (9:13 am): Gustafson's -4 on her round today and tied for the lead at -11. Ai-chan is now -10. Great 35 after that +2 start!]
[Update 43 (9:17 am): Now Mitsuka is back to -9 after a birdie on 10. The birdies are coming fast and furious, finally.]
[Update 44 (9:19 am): Inky makes a it 3 in a row and joins Paula and Ai-chan at -10!]
[Update 45 (9:21 am): Time for Stacy Lewis, Se Ri Pak, and Meena Lee at -6 and Helen Alfredsson and Song-Hee Kim at -7 to get on their horses. The train is leaving the station!]
[Update 46 (9:25 am): Ji Young Oh made 6 birdies but 4 bogeys today and ends up at -5. That's going to be too far back to win. Brewerton is -12 and nobody among the leaders is backing down or backing up.]
[Update 47 (9:28 am): OK, well, Ai-chan bogeyed 10 to fall back to E on the day and -9 for the tournament. She had a weak finish Thursday and a strong one Friday. Let's see how many shots she can make up on the leaders today.]
[Update 48 (9:31 am): Man, many of my picks in this week's PakPicker are really letting me down. Precision players like Ji-Yai Shin (-3), Natalie Gulbis (-2), Morgan Pressel (-2 through 52 holes), and Kristy McPherson (-2 through 51) are not living up to their hot play of late. Seon Hwa Lee is barely hanging in there at E, and Mika Miyazato is out of it at +8. Guess I should have trusted Ji to shake off her celebration's aftereffects quickly.]
[Update 49 (9:34 am): Cristie Kerr is now -9 after her birdie on the par-3 14th. That makes it 8 players within 3 shots of the lead and 12 within 5.]
[Update 50 (9:37 am): Waitasec--Oh only made 3 bogeys, it turns out. Her 69 brings her to -6. Lang could become the co-leader-in-the-clubhouse at -6 if she can break the curse on 18 and actually birdie it.]
[Update 51 (9:40 am): Choi bogeyed 11 to fall back to -10. Song-Hee Kim bogeyed 12 to fall back to -6. Mitsuka doubled 12--just like Ai-chan did on Thursday--to fall back to -7. So it's even more amazing that Lang birdied 18 to join Oh at -6. If other leaders falter, a low- or mid-60s round tomorrow by either one of them culd win it for them.]
[Update 52 (9:42 am): Hold on! Brittany Lang actually shot the 7th 68 of the day and moved to -7 overall. She's right in it!]
[Update 53 (9:46 am): Ward has made 3 birdies and 3 bogeys today. As she enters the final holes she could put some distance between herself, Gulbis, and Wie by joining Lang at -7.]
[Update 54 (9:47 am): Oh, man! I wish LPGA.com would make up its mind. Now Lang is back to 69/-6. Did she bogey 16 or didn't she??]
[Update 55 (9:49 am): About time to get ready to leave for onechan's violin lessons. Webb has joined Miyazato and Kerr at -9.]
[Update 56 (4:55 pm): Wow, missed a lot, didn't I? Gustafson and Kerr made the biggest moves with their 67s, but 68s by In-Kyung Kim, Karrie Webb, and Helen Alfredsson bring the total to 10 on the day (yes, Lang's was actually a 68, after all!). Ai-chan had a chance to finish the day in the lead, but bogeyed 18 instead of birdieing it. Here's Hound Dog's 3rd-round overview, which goes into a lot of detail on the GC coverage.]
[Update 57 (5:36 pm): As Hound Dog points out, we're all set up for a Sunday free-for-all. There are 15 players within 5 shots of the lead, 9 within 3, and only 3 players who have broken 70 every round (Brewerton, Inky, Webb). I always like someone who didn't go low on moving day but is close to the lead for the win. That means that my pick Ai-chan and Hound Dog's pick Creamer are in a great position to go low tomorrow. I stand by my prediction of a -16 to -21 winning score. Nobody's going to back into a win with this many players in the hunt. That means we'd need so see something extraordinary from those more than 3 back. I'm talking 64 or lower, with more needed the further back you are. If you can't get to -15, you won't put any pressure on the last 5 twosomes.]
[Update 58 (5:45 pm): By my system, Na Yeon Choi, Yuko Mitsuka, and Ward, Pak, Lewis, and Song-Hee Kim are also threats to go low tomorrow.]
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