Post by HappyFan on Jun 23, 2024 2:23:28 GMT
If yesterday was perhaps my favorite round of golf that I've watched in person in years, today... was not. It was a brutal day, but I'm still glad I got a chance to go and am looking forward to tomorrow!
The weather cooled off. In fact, it even rained a little during the morning. But in general, it was overcast and mild, which suited me fine.
I got to the course around 10 AM and sought out Yu Jin Sung, who had started not too long before. For some reason I had a David Bowie song in my head and sang:
Yu Jin
I just met a girl named Yu Jin
A takeoff on this ditty:
Anyhoo, I followed her through hole 6 and even got to see a birdie in that time. She ended up finishing 1 over for the day, not bad at all. That's a 73 every single day. As before, Yu Jin seemed to be in good spirits and smiled a lot. She's having a good time despite the challenge.
I made it back in time to see Jin Young, Hae Ran and Lexi tee off on hole 1. The crowds were bigger, and at times it was hard to see, especially around the greens. Jin Young had a nice uneventful par on hole 1. After that, she went into full survival mode for the rest of her round. Simply put, her long game failed her repeatedly. She was hitting her drives off line, resulting in a lot of time in the woods. On the second hole, for instance, she pulled her drive left, hacked it but still in the rough on her second shot, hit her third to about 100 yards, then got it up and down for par. She kept doing that. She was absolutely determined not to drop a shot, and she needed her short game wizardry over and over. On a later par 5 she hit her fourth to two feet from about 100 yards. She also made at least four par savers of more than 5 feet. It was impressive, but kind of exhausting.
Hole 8, the dreaded hole, creamed everyone with a bogey. The previous par 5, Jin Young reached the greenside bunker in two and made a fantastic up and down for birdie. But the bogey erased that.
Meanwhile, Hae Ran was playing pretty well. She made a couple of early birdies, then, after several close calls, made a birdie on 7 to move into a tie for the lead. It didn't last. After the bogey on 8, she started having issues off the tee as well. She struggled on 10, hitting into trouble, and on 11 and 12 as well. She blew all her gains and sunk several shots more.
By the 13th hole, I had had enough. I could barely see what was going on through the crowds. It felt like Thompson was kicking their butts, but really she was never more than a shot better than Ko. So on the par 3 13th, after Jin Young and Hae Ran both hit the green, I decided that if one of them didn't make a birdie, I would go watch Amy. They didn't, and I did.
Hae Ran is not too bad off on the leaderboard despite her challenges. A top ten is still very possible. Jin Young amazingly scrounged a 73 through sheer force of will. You can't know just how hard she worked if you weren't there to watch. Korda was crushed when that happened to her, but Jin Young is made of stern stuff indeed.
I watched Amy play her final five holes. On 16, Shibuno hit into a greenside bunker and produced a mediocre out, leaving her ~30 feet for par. Amy was short of the green in two but pitched to three feet. I immediately predicted that Shibuno would make the par and Yang would miss it; and I was right, alas. Fortunately, Amy made birdie on the 17th to move back to 7 under. She had a great chance to move to 8 under on 18 but missed. But she will be going into tomorrow with another chance to finally claim a Major. I wish her the best of luck. It feels like she might come up short again, but then I remember who the most recent Korean winner on the LPGA was. That's right, Amy Yang. She can get the job done, why not at a Major?
Perhaps it will finally be her day?
Hwaiting!
The weather cooled off. In fact, it even rained a little during the morning. But in general, it was overcast and mild, which suited me fine.
I got to the course around 10 AM and sought out Yu Jin Sung, who had started not too long before. For some reason I had a David Bowie song in my head and sang:
Yu Jin
I just met a girl named Yu Jin
A takeoff on this ditty:
Anyhoo, I followed her through hole 6 and even got to see a birdie in that time. She ended up finishing 1 over for the day, not bad at all. That's a 73 every single day. As before, Yu Jin seemed to be in good spirits and smiled a lot. She's having a good time despite the challenge.
I made it back in time to see Jin Young, Hae Ran and Lexi tee off on hole 1. The crowds were bigger, and at times it was hard to see, especially around the greens. Jin Young had a nice uneventful par on hole 1. After that, she went into full survival mode for the rest of her round. Simply put, her long game failed her repeatedly. She was hitting her drives off line, resulting in a lot of time in the woods. On the second hole, for instance, she pulled her drive left, hacked it but still in the rough on her second shot, hit her third to about 100 yards, then got it up and down for par. She kept doing that. She was absolutely determined not to drop a shot, and she needed her short game wizardry over and over. On a later par 5 she hit her fourth to two feet from about 100 yards. She also made at least four par savers of more than 5 feet. It was impressive, but kind of exhausting.
Hole 8, the dreaded hole, creamed everyone with a bogey. The previous par 5, Jin Young reached the greenside bunker in two and made a fantastic up and down for birdie. But the bogey erased that.
Meanwhile, Hae Ran was playing pretty well. She made a couple of early birdies, then, after several close calls, made a birdie on 7 to move into a tie for the lead. It didn't last. After the bogey on 8, she started having issues off the tee as well. She struggled on 10, hitting into trouble, and on 11 and 12 as well. She blew all her gains and sunk several shots more.
By the 13th hole, I had had enough. I could barely see what was going on through the crowds. It felt like Thompson was kicking their butts, but really she was never more than a shot better than Ko. So on the par 3 13th, after Jin Young and Hae Ran both hit the green, I decided that if one of them didn't make a birdie, I would go watch Amy. They didn't, and I did.
Hae Ran is not too bad off on the leaderboard despite her challenges. A top ten is still very possible. Jin Young amazingly scrounged a 73 through sheer force of will. You can't know just how hard she worked if you weren't there to watch. Korda was crushed when that happened to her, but Jin Young is made of stern stuff indeed.
I watched Amy play her final five holes. On 16, Shibuno hit into a greenside bunker and produced a mediocre out, leaving her ~30 feet for par. Amy was short of the green in two but pitched to three feet. I immediately predicted that Shibuno would make the par and Yang would miss it; and I was right, alas. Fortunately, Amy made birdie on the 17th to move back to 7 under. She had a great chance to move to 8 under on 18 but missed. But she will be going into tomorrow with another chance to finally claim a Major. I wish her the best of luck. It feels like she might come up short again, but then I remember who the most recent Korean winner on the LPGA was. That's right, Amy Yang. She can get the job done, why not at a Major?
Perhaps it will finally be her day?
Hwaiting!
