Birdie Finish for Kim Wins the U.S. Women’s Open

A terrific low-runner out of the sand trap at eighteen delivered an unlikely 72nd hole birdie to 23-year old Birdie Kim (72). Tied with 17-year old Morgan Pressel (75) throughout the day it was Birdie’s final shot which stole victory from the young amateur. Staring down every leaderboard Pressel felt confident that this was her tournament to win but struggled to find the right club for many of her approach shots.

Birdie played solidly today not allowing the pressure to get to her. Like many golfers today Kim misread greens but didn’t allow herself to get caught up in the drama of the event. She carefully played each hole turning difficult shots into opportunities.

When asked about how she felt after winning one of the most prestigious majors on the LPGA Tour, Kim commented in broken English, “I tried my best just to par to get close to the hole. I can’t believe it! I’m very happy.”

Kim is only the third Korean to win a major LPGA tournament and is in good company with veterans Grace Park and Se Ri Pak.

Pars have been scarce at the eighteenth hole at Cherry Hills CC. With a 40-yard wide fairway and water visible in front of the tee the greenside bunker became a favorite spot for some of the ladies today. Most that found the bunker including Lang, Gulbis and Wie bogeyed the hole.

Kim scored the only birdie at this hole in two days of competition.

The odds of winning were not in Kim’s favor. With only one top-ten in thirty career starts Kim was a relative unknown in the United States. In her native Korea Birdie Kim has won nineteen amateur events. There is a very strong golf program in her country. She even decided to change her name to “Birdie” because there were so many other people named Kim who played golf. She thought the name would be memorable and she was right!

Morgan Pressel was on an emotional roller-coaster ride throughout the day. Constantly checking her placement on the electronic scoreboard the 17-year old amateur went from strutting around the greens to slamming her putter against her hand and slapping her glove against her leg. She was cursing, crying, angry and laughing all within each individual hole. If not for her emotional turmoil the possibility of winning might have been better. It was her putter that kept Morgan in the mix. She mis-clubbed the entire back nine usually selecting clubs that were too long for the shot she was attempting.

The “forgotten” amateur Brittany Lang tied for second place with Morgan Pressel. With all the hubbub surrounding amateurs Wie and Pressel, Lang was a relative unknown in the field. Playing even par today the Texas native and Duke University golfer has decided that she will head off to Q-School for a chance at becoming an official LPGA member at the end of the season.

Pressure played a big part in this tournament. Michelle Wie (82) started the day in a three-way tie for the lead but she could not recover from an opening double-bogey which made her choke throughout the day. The “Big Wiesy” wound up doubling up twice more during her final round and only scored two birdies on the back nine. Wie ended up in a tie for 23rd place with Paula Creamer, Jennifer Rosales and Annika Sorenstam (77).

Annika Sorenstam also collapsed today. She didn’t hit any shots close enough for birdie and her putter wasn’t working today either. Finishing out of the top-20 is rare for Annika. She finished in top-five positions in the previous three Opens. As Annika realized her bid for the Grand Slam was at an end she told reporters, “I’m disappointed with my results. Putting my golf aside it’s been a good week. The game plan was to be a little more agressive but I couldn’t recover from my bad shots.”

If I were to give a “Choke of the Tournament” award to someone today it would be to Guadalaharan native Lorena Ochoa. Playing one-over par on the front nine Ochoa looked determined to regain ground she lost after a 77 in third-round action. Getting even more comfortable on the back-nine Ochoa
birdied four out of the next seven holes and was looking forward to a below-par round.

Standing on the eighteenth Ochoa literally “flopped” her drive into the water hitting it so fat that there was a huge divot left on the tee box. Lying three off the tee she sent her next drive flying into heavy rough making “par” virtually imposible. Although she laid up out of the rough the following shot came out hot and careened into the stands. Winding up with a quad-bogey “snowman” at eighteen Lorena sobbed at her interview. “I took a three-wood trying to make an easy swing but I put my hands to far ahead. I fought so hard for 71 holes for it to end like this is terrible.”

Pos   Player                  Today    Tot    R1    R2    R3    R4
1     Birdie Kim                +1      +3    74    72    69    72 
T2    Brittany Lang (a)          E      +5    69    77    72    71 
T2    Morgan Pressel (a)        +4      +5    71    73    70    75 
T4    Lorie Kane                -2      +6    74    71    76    69 
T4    Natalie Gulbis             E      +6    70    75    74    71 
T6    Lorena Ochoa              +1      +7    74    68    77    72 
T6    Karine Icher              +1      +7    69    75    75    72 
T6    Candie Kung               +3      +7    73    73    71    74 
T6    Young Jo                  +5      +7    74    71    70    76 
T10   Cristie Kerr              +4      +8    74    71    72    75 
T10   Angela Stanford           +5      +8    69    74    73    76
T10   Karen Stupples            +7      +8    75    70    69    78
T23   Annika Sorenstam          +6     +12    71    75    73    77

Photo Credit: © tvnz.co.nz.