How fun was that? Every time they showed In Gee, she made a birdie! That is, until the last hole, where she managed a truly impressive up and down to save par after hitting it in the water. In Gee was looking solid out there! It's great to see her play like this, and I hope she can keep it up and get herself into the hunt on the weekend!
We didn't get a chance to see Inky, but she had a nice start in the morning to put herself in the early lead. Shout out also to Mirim, a great player who has not been at her best of late. She has almost won here in the past, so don't count her out.
Keeping an eye on Spanish Korean Harang Lee, who had a decent 2 under 69 to start her week.
Sisters hwaiting!!!
PS, I knew this was a tournament that has seen a lot of Korean success, but even I had forgotten some of those wins. Eun Jung Yi, her only career win came here courtesy of a 61 in one of the rounds. So Yeon had her only rookie season win here. Chella had her only career win to date, NYC also claimed a win, and Mi Hyun Kim won in a playoff against Gulbis, with literally no one in the crowd cheering for her. And of course Se Ri's five wins and Inky last year. All in all, 11 Korean wins in the last 20 years. Let's see another won this weekend. Go Korea!
I remembered that tournament when Mi Hyun won. Mi Hyun was so mentally strong, it didn't bother her at all. I believe that she also beat Julie Inkster in a playoff as well. Too bad having to hit all those long clubs, shortened her career.
Jasmine is hanging in there tough at -8, 65-69. She was down and out a couple of years ago...would be a great story if she can win. Cute interview after Round One:
I saw her five years ago at Shop-Rite, played with C. Kim and Lauren Doughtie. Christina had her usual motormouth commentary after all of her own shots, while Thidapa quietly plodded along making par after par with her exotic PRGR gear (look up the Egg Spoon FW from that time and you'll agree). Jasmine's under-the-radar efficiency finally got Kim's attention at the 14th tee box. With no context and a hint of astonishment in her voice, Christina turns to Jasmine and asks, "How old are you?"
Daniela Darquea's 64 included an ace at #6...received a well-done from Gimee...and both will play the weekend.
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Monday qualifier Allie White is going down the tubes. From The Archives, 2009 USWO, Round Two:
The next group I picked up was Esther Choe, Allie White, and Miki Saiki. White is a high schooler who had at least twenty people following her. Most of them were classmates wearing caps that said ‘OHIO FARMER’. This is the name of her dad’s company. White also has a lot of power, although there were no spectator yardage markers to measure it. On the 14th, she outdrove Saiki by 35 yards and Choe by 45 yards. FYI, Saiki used an orange ball. Is it 1980 again?
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In other news, Muni He is stuck in neutral today on the Symetra Tour...only two shots back with three holes left, but would have to leap over a lot of players on Saturday for another win. The good news is that Karen Chung is making a charge, -5 overall with two holes left to play today...she is a playa IMHO, but needs to stop underachieving...finally, this may be her week.
