Post by HappyFan on Jun 22, 2024 4:45:32 GMT
Yesterday I enjoyed watching the tournament, no question. However today, round 2, was probably the most fun I've had watching a live tournament in years. So much exciting stuff happening! I hope it lasts, but even if it doesn't, I had one incredible day to remember.
When I got to the course this morning (another hot, sunny day... is this really the northwest?), Jin Young had already completed three holes and made two birdies. OK, that's a good sign! However, once I got to her, she stopped making birdies. Not that she wasn't CLOSE; she had at least three tries that burned the edge or stopped short of rolling in. But no birdies, and meanwhile, Thompson continued her uncanny play where everything went her way. She climbed to 7 under, five up on Jin Young.
It's not like Jin Young was playing poorly. On the contrary, I was seeing the A level Jin Young for the first time in a while, and boy was it welcome! She only once put herself into a bad position off the tee, and it was on the 8th hole, which I've come to dread. I mouthed to myself, just don't put the drive in that left bunker, and you'll be OK. After which she of course put the drive in that bunker. She punched out, leaving herself 150+ yards for her third. She hit a BEAUTIFUL approach that rolled up to the hole, stopping about twenty feet short. It was a long putt, but exactly in the spot you would want to putt from. She left her par attempt one roll short for a bogey, the only one I recall her making.
So even when she messed up, she almost pulled off the save. But I waited the entire front nine without a birdie. I decided that I would keep following her until she made one, and if she didn't, I would follow her to her hotel and wait outside her room until she did so. Fortunately, it didn't come to that, and there was a radical reversal of fortune starting on hole 1 (her tenth hole).
She made birdie on 1 to move to 3 under. On the next hole, Thompson finally made some big mistakes, ending up with a double on a par 5 to fall from 7 under to 5 under. Lexi continued to fumble, Jin Young was cool and collected, and soon they were tied, where they remained pretty much the rest of the day.
It's not just that Jin Young was on the leaderboard, it's that she was playing her classic style of golf. It's so cool to see her place the ball in an ideal location time and again, hit lots of fairways, etc. If she just sharpens her putting a little she could devastate this field. I'm looking forward to seeing what she can do tomorrow.
At the end of the round, Lexi decided to sign autographs in the middle of the only path from the front to back nine, and I had to sit there for FIVE minutes while she went on and on. On the plus side, I finally met someone who knew who Jin Young was, so I wasn't the only person shouting 'Go Jin Young!' in the crowd following them.
After I ate lunch, I walked to where Yu Jin Sung was. She was playing OK, but I thought about moving over to Amy Yang when I noticed Hae Ran Ryu rocketing up the leaderboard. I had left her for defeated yesterday, but she was back. I followed her for ~12 holes. What fun!
(I had an interesting experience with Korda's round. I was intent on avoiding her group like the plague after having to deal with the mobs following Jin Young. I expected that I would see them update the manual leaderboards with her results; she had been on it all day yesterday. About twenty minutes after she started, I noticed one of the boards had her at 1 under. Interesting, she made some mistakes? The next board, she was completely gone. What? I noticed I was hearing no loud roars like I was expecting. It wasn't until later that I discovered what had happened, but I suspected she was struggling based on her being removed from those boards.)
Hae Ran had two memorable holes. On 6 (the par five), she hit a great drive, then tried to reach in two. She did more than that; her approach rocketed off the back of the green. Where did it go? Well, this green has a back bunker with a very strange feature: a tall "grass backstop" behind it (taller than the level of the green; really weird looking). Her ball got lodged on top of that backstop. She was short sided, and for some reason hit a big loft shot which ran off the green into another bunker. She ended up making bogey. Still not sure what she was thinking with that play.
On the 18th, though, she easily reached the green in two, leaving herself a 20 footer for eagle. Just missed it, but that straightness and power was impressive to see.
Lastly, I went over to Amy to follow her for her final four holes. Like the other two, she was playing exquisite, controlled golf. On the 18th, she decided to lay up, which surprised me. She hit her third, and the crowd went crazy (I was standing next to her so I couldn't quite make out what had happened). She made that ball dance all over the cup, but alas it didn't go in, stopping six inches from the lip. Still, that final birdie moved her into a share of the lead. Good luck to her! Let's keep the magic going. Hwaiting!
When I got to the course this morning (another hot, sunny day... is this really the northwest?), Jin Young had already completed three holes and made two birdies. OK, that's a good sign! However, once I got to her, she stopped making birdies. Not that she wasn't CLOSE; she had at least three tries that burned the edge or stopped short of rolling in. But no birdies, and meanwhile, Thompson continued her uncanny play where everything went her way. She climbed to 7 under, five up on Jin Young.
It's not like Jin Young was playing poorly. On the contrary, I was seeing the A level Jin Young for the first time in a while, and boy was it welcome! She only once put herself into a bad position off the tee, and it was on the 8th hole, which I've come to dread. I mouthed to myself, just don't put the drive in that left bunker, and you'll be OK. After which she of course put the drive in that bunker. She punched out, leaving herself 150+ yards for her third. She hit a BEAUTIFUL approach that rolled up to the hole, stopping about twenty feet short. It was a long putt, but exactly in the spot you would want to putt from. She left her par attempt one roll short for a bogey, the only one I recall her making.
So even when she messed up, she almost pulled off the save. But I waited the entire front nine without a birdie. I decided that I would keep following her until she made one, and if she didn't, I would follow her to her hotel and wait outside her room until she did so. Fortunately, it didn't come to that, and there was a radical reversal of fortune starting on hole 1 (her tenth hole).
She made birdie on 1 to move to 3 under. On the next hole, Thompson finally made some big mistakes, ending up with a double on a par 5 to fall from 7 under to 5 under. Lexi continued to fumble, Jin Young was cool and collected, and soon they were tied, where they remained pretty much the rest of the day.
It's not just that Jin Young was on the leaderboard, it's that she was playing her classic style of golf. It's so cool to see her place the ball in an ideal location time and again, hit lots of fairways, etc. If she just sharpens her putting a little she could devastate this field. I'm looking forward to seeing what she can do tomorrow.
At the end of the round, Lexi decided to sign autographs in the middle of the only path from the front to back nine, and I had to sit there for FIVE minutes while she went on and on. On the plus side, I finally met someone who knew who Jin Young was, so I wasn't the only person shouting 'Go Jin Young!' in the crowd following them.
After I ate lunch, I walked to where Yu Jin Sung was. She was playing OK, but I thought about moving over to Amy Yang when I noticed Hae Ran Ryu rocketing up the leaderboard. I had left her for defeated yesterday, but she was back. I followed her for ~12 holes. What fun!
(I had an interesting experience with Korda's round. I was intent on avoiding her group like the plague after having to deal with the mobs following Jin Young. I expected that I would see them update the manual leaderboards with her results; she had been on it all day yesterday. About twenty minutes after she started, I noticed one of the boards had her at 1 under. Interesting, she made some mistakes? The next board, she was completely gone. What? I noticed I was hearing no loud roars like I was expecting. It wasn't until later that I discovered what had happened, but I suspected she was struggling based on her being removed from those boards.)
Hae Ran had two memorable holes. On 6 (the par five), she hit a great drive, then tried to reach in two. She did more than that; her approach rocketed off the back of the green. Where did it go? Well, this green has a back bunker with a very strange feature: a tall "grass backstop" behind it (taller than the level of the green; really weird looking). Her ball got lodged on top of that backstop. She was short sided, and for some reason hit a big loft shot which ran off the green into another bunker. She ended up making bogey. Still not sure what she was thinking with that play.
On the 18th, though, she easily reached the green in two, leaving herself a 20 footer for eagle. Just missed it, but that straightness and power was impressive to see.
Lastly, I went over to Amy to follow her for her final four holes. Like the other two, she was playing exquisite, controlled golf. On the 18th, she decided to lay up, which surprised me. She hit her third, and the crowd went crazy (I was standing next to her so I couldn't quite make out what had happened). She made that ball dance all over the cup, but alas it didn't go in, stopping six inches from the lip. Still, that final birdie moved her into a share of the lead. Good luck to her! Let's keep the magic going. Hwaiting!
