Weather delays wreaked havoc at the Office Depot Championship this past weekend. The ladies never completed a solid round of golf due to a dense fog which covered the deluxe Trump National Golf Course in Rancho Palos Verdes. After waiting for over three hours before play resumed darkness then covered the course forcing the ladies to complete this 54-hole tournament on Monday.
Tensions were mounting as most of the rounds were played piecemeal. Mother Nature and slow play dealt “the Donald” a one-two punch at his new golf courses’ inaugural LPGA event. Hee-Won Han was in the lead by a single stroke with only ten holes left to play heading into the conclusion of a very long three-day tournament. But Han was relaxed and ready as she started her day with two birdies in a row on her way to a two-stroke, wire-to-wire triumph over the rest of the field.
“At first I was very unhappy about playing on Monday, but I am so much more happy now” said the South Korean who won her fourth professional tournament and moved up the money list by eight spots into eleventh position. She has eight top-ten finishes this year and over $3.3 million in earnings.
Han claimed her last victory in a sudden-death playoff at the 2004 Safeway Classic and crossed the $2 million mark in earnings that year. The 2001 Rolex Rookie of the Year started on her road to the LPGA on the Japan Tour and claimed her first two wins in 2003.
Han studied the layout of Trump National and understood what she had to do in order to win this week. “I just hit the fairways and the greens this week” Han said and it worked for her because her record in this tournament included hitting 92.3 percent of the fairways and 83.3 percent of the greens. That’s quite an accomplishment!
Both playing partner and friend Soo-Yun Kang had an equally good bogey-free final round finishing with a 5-under 66 but it wasn’t enough to topple fellow South Korean Hee-Won Han. After the tournament Kang grabbed a bottle of champagne and doused her friend. “We are all very close friends so the last time when I won they did that to me so I did that for her,” said Kang, happy both about her buddy’s victory and her movement up the money list to 17th position.
Third place finalist Catriona Matthew had an impressive three rounds all in the 60’s. Her five third place finishes this season and nine top ten’s have people watching the European Solheim Cup attendee and getting to know her name.
Natalie Gulbis picked up another top-ten (her sixth this season) as she came in tied for fourth place along with Karine Icher. Natalie only had three bogeys starting the third round but started with a double-bogey and flurried the rest of the way, speckling bogeys with birdies. Gulbis has three years under her belt as a pro and has yet to win but there are still a few chances left for her this season. This tournament Gulbis complained that the wind was causing problems for both her and others on the field.
Annika Sorenstam finished in the top-ten once again, no surprise although she couldn’t regain her trophy from her win at last year’s Office Depot. The course was new to Annika but she played her game like she always does and had a very steady tournament playing under par with a 69 and two 70’s.
Missed the Cut
We take for granted that some golfers will make the cut week after week. It was highly uncommon to find the names of Karrie Webb, Meg Mallon, Laura Davies and Cristie Kerr on the MC list. Obviously none of them played their best games. Some rounds were just lackluster and others had an opportunity and let it slip through their fingers. Take for example Cristie Kerr who started out with four birdies in a row in round two. Six bogeys followed over the remainder of that round. The starting, stopping and weather frustration can do that to your game. A 72 and then a 76 ousted Kerr from the finals.
Meg Mallon’s 77 in round two included eight bogeys. Karrie Webb improved from her opening round 75 to a 72 but it just wasn’t enough to make the cut. Both ladies tied at 5-over par. Laura Davies couldn’t get into the swing of this tournament as she opened with a 76 and closed with a 78 speckling her card with several double-bogeys.
Paula Creamer was DQ’ed because she changed golf clubs during the final round switching out a 5-iron with a 3-wood. She changed clubs on Sunday night after play was suspended and she was in the middle of her round. I guess she paid the price of being a novice.
As I try to conclude my articles on the upswing I was informed that Marisa Baena, 2005 HSBC Match Play winner (and solo eighth place this week) scored a hole-in-one on the 168-yard fourth hole using an 8-iron. That’s some 8-iron Marisa, congrats!
Pos Player Today Tot R1 R2 R3 1 Hee-Won Han -3 -12 65 68 68 2 Soo-Yun Kang -5 -10 71 66 66 3 Catriona Matthew -3 -8 69 68 68 T4 Natalie Gulbis E -7 66 69 71 T4 Karine Icher +2 -7 65 68 73 T6 Katherine Hull -2 -6 68 70 69 T6 Jeong Jang +3 -6 67 66 74 8 Marisa Baena E -5 68 69 71 T9 Kim Saiki -2 -4 69 71 69 T9 Annika Sorenstam -1 -4 69 70 70 T9 Young Jo E -4 71 67 71 T9 Mi Hyun Kim +2 -4 67 69 73
Photo Credit: © AFP.
Why is Paula Creamer not playing in Long Drugs Challenge…does it have anything to do with the DQ last week?
It could be because of the DQ but in golf you’re supposed to have a short memory so she should be able to forget it and move on. I do know that Creamer and Gulbis are preparing to go to Asia in November for the Lexus Cup.