Still sitting here in awe after witnessing the masterful bunker shot by Birdie Kim. Maybe now people will be able to differentiate her from all the other Kims.

I've now had a front-row seat to two of the greatest Women's Opens, in 2003 and this year.

How about Lorena Ochoa? Have to feel for her as well. She could have been there, perhaps in a playoff tomorrow.

Interesting to be a part of all the post-championship festivities. Players wait near or in the clubhouse to see where they'll finish. Meanwhile, the media hangs out in the bullpen area, mixing in with players, officials. It's complete chaos when we have a winner. Kim had to be whisked away for the trophy presentation. Pressel was in mid-sentence during an interview when they hauled her off.

What more can you say about Kim. She earned it under pressure. When she was told after she won about $560,000, all she could say was 'Whooo!' She had no idea how much cash was on the line. I felt a little sorry for her as she struggled through her final media session. She doesn't speak English very well; also had trouble comprehending some of the questions. But our job as reporters is to pull that emotion, in the form of a quote, out of the player. I think that's why Pressel is so good. She says what she wants without the interference of agents who tell their client to basically tone it down. In other words, talk in cliches.

I think it means more when a player like Pressel gets emotional, because you know it's real.

Just my two cents.

By the way, believe we will break 30 million page views. To quote Kim, Whooooo!

Posted by Ken Klavon at 10:26 PM

Simply unbelievable. Birdie Kim's shot was one for the ages. On the other end of the spectrum, poor Morgan Pressel. Inconsolable as she walked from the scoring booth.

Great move by Annika Sorenstam. She sought Pressel out as she made her way to the scoring trailer, embracing her and whispering words of encouragement. Truly a moving moment.

Posted by Ken Klavon at 06:27 PM

I'm hoping the gods of fate smile upon us today. That means no playoff, but that of course, is because of my selfish mood. Playoff means travel plans are thrown out of whack, especially when 'dad' must fly through Detroit to pick up his toddler 'daughter.'

But if it happens, it happens.

I've been informed by Bill Lacey, our webmaster, that we have already surpassed our top traffic number of 11.9 million page views. That was set in 2003. The playoff that year definitely helped. We are currently around the 20-million mark. My sincere thanks to all who have checked in.

Tangential thought: what makes a webmaster a webmaster? Sounds like something from Dungeons and Dragons. Can I now be called Editormaster or Reportermaster?

Have to love Birdie Kim who changed her name to Birdie because there are too many Kims on the tour.

Why do I feel as though Karen Stupples is being overshadowed by the young-ins? Probably because she is. A lot of focus should be given to her today. Taking nothing away from Pressel or Wie, but Stupples is the one with one major under her belt.

Of course, I expect the top of the leaderboard to look different today. My guess? Monday playoff.

Posted by Ken Klavon at 01:37 PM

So here we are in the homestretch and two amateurs are there. Says a lot about amateur players.

Asked Wie what she knew about Catherine Lacoste, the only amateur to win the Open. She answered Lacoste but said she cheated because she just saw it on TV last night. At least she was honest. Pressel knew too, which was impressive.

Annika almost seems resigned that this may not work out for her. But she was pretty classy answering questions today. Yesterday she seemed irritated. More in a bit.

Posted by Ken Klavon at 09:20 PM

Place always looks like a ghost town after the cut. I commented on this at the U.S. Open last week. There's so much excitement beforehand that no one is thinking 'cut.'

Christina Kim was one of the unlucky few yesterday. So for a second straight event we lose our Player Diary. Todd Hamilton missed the cut last week.

But Kim held in there to the end. She went to the driving range after her round yesterday and hit for about two-three hours. At one point she was the only one out there. More interesting is that there were three people in the grandstands watching.

Here's to Kris Tschetter. She was the first one this morning, playing by herself. She apparently didn't want a marker. Played her round in three hours on the dot.

And then there's Katie Allison. She's carded 11 birdies, the most in the field so far. Bogeys, though, 13 of them, and double bogeys (three) have kept her from moving up.

Off to walk with the lead groups ....

Posted by Ken Klavon at 01:28 PM

Annika Sorenstam held it together pretty well on the podium during interviews, but you could tell she was not happy. She expects a lot out of herself and obviously didn't care for the three bogeys to finish.

Don't count her out yet.

Also, don't count out Perrot either. She's got the mental fortitude to hang in there. Still the same person as 2001. Laughs like crazy and jokes with her brother Raul.

Still don't know how Creamer pulled off that incredible stretch. And to do it with an upset stomach. She was laughing afterward about it.

Still, a long, long way to go.

Posted by Ken Klavon at 11:57 PM

We're stuck. Another weather delay. You usually know it's coming because the dark clouds roll in off the rocky mountains.

Two words right now. Paula Creamer. What an incredible round she's putting together. Six over through four holes today, she's fired off an eagle and five birdies to get to 2 under. A remarkable story we're pursuing. Is this what they mean by being in the zone?

And how about Nicole Perrot. I keenly recall 2001, the year she won the Girls' Junior and then went to the Women's Amateur final against Meredith Duncan. Former USGA president Judy Bell called it the greatest display of golf she had ever seen. Ever. This from Judy Bell.

I had to concur. Duncan and Perrot were rolling in 20-footers on top of each other consistently. Both had earned the right to win that day.

What is it we do during a weather delay? Catch up. Perfect time to research more interesting nuggets for stories. It will save time later.

Posted by Ken Klavon at 06:59 PM

Scores are starting to drop, which is sort of interesting considering that it rained hard here last night. Fairways aren't playing as long but the greens should be softer. Something to check out later.

If Michelle Wie wins this thing, expect Annika-like coverage everywhere. Not that she isn't already getting Annika-like coverage.

Posted by Ken Klavon at 11:28 AM

Don't know what to make of this so far. My gut feeling at the start of this was 'playoff' between Annika and the X-factor. I don't know who that X-factor is. I keep telling myself it'll be one of the young guns.

Nicole Perrot is a determined player who, like Sorenstam, will beat herself.

Lightning could be seen miles away with the mountains as the backdrop. Pretty neat sight.

Posted by Ken Klavon at 11:29 PM

Noticed NHL star Peter Forsberg in the gallery. The Swede was watching Annika Sorenstam's group, presumably Annika.

Can't help but feel for Morgan Pressel. She broke down during her interview, trying to keep it together. She did a good job as some of the media tried to make her laugh.

I can't think of anyone nicer on the LPGA Tour then Angela Stanford. There are a lot of nice people, but she takes the cake. Kind of person you can really root for.

Uh oh, don't look now but here comes Gulbis and Lang.

Posted by Ken Klavon at 05:58 PM

Galleries following Annika today are enormous. For now, I'll stay with Pressel as long as she stays in the lead. Have to admire Pressel for her spunk. She's always been an emotional player, and on No. 18, when chunking her chip, she screamed. Wonder how the other players are affected when she does that?

Back for more in a bit.

Posted by Ken Klavon at 01:11 PM

I can't think of a much better story this week than Jana Peterkova. To grow up in the Coimmunistic-run Czechoslovakia, then go through an accident where she had to learn how to walk again, is nearly unbelievable. Even though it's early, nice to see her high on the leaderboard.

Posted by Ken Klavon at 10:49 AM

Most of this morning (afternoon on the East Coast now) has been spent trying to rectify our high speed issues. Finally some juice.

Bounced back and forth between the course, range and media center. Saw Christina Kim hole out on No. 18 from about 125 yards away. Kim yelped, pulled the ball out and then proceeded to sign autographs for about 5 minutes. Then took off for the first tee. That's what I like about the women's tour. They'll stop, chat, pose for photos, anything for the fans. You don't see that too often on the men's tours. Guess it depends on the personality. Fuzzy Zoeller, for example, makes small talk all the time, even when he's in competition.

It's kind of weird seeing snow. That snow, of course, adorns the rocky mountains off in the background. That or Pikes Peak. I'm directionally illiterate at times.

Every time I look at No. 1, all I keep thinking about is Arnold Palmer driving it to the green.

Watching Jimin Kang practice her putting with headphones on made me wonder how they can concentrate with noise invading their head. It isn't abnormal to see players practice this way. Just me wondering how they can block it out.

Posted by Ken Klavon at 01:33 PM

Nice touch this year: past champions are given their own parking spots. Other players also have parking places, but they're not reserved as close to the clubhouse as the champions are.

Beautiful day today until the mid-afternoon. Threatening clouds rolled in off the mountains; now it's been thundering.

I always like watching first-time players. You can sense their excitement at the start of the week. Amanda McCurdy, last year's Women's Amateur runner-up, could be seen sitting on the outside patio just taking it all in.

Seemed like all I saw today was Annika and Michelle Wie. Little girls hounded Wie for autographs, with one tripping to the ground. She started crying with skinned knees. Could not help but feel for her.

Posted by Ken Klavon at 09:10 PM

Local products Jill McGill and John Elway this afternoon took a clinic for youths. Pretty witty stuff from the both of them.

Elway, who played in the NFL for 16 seasons, is much bigger in person. What stands out the most isn't his size, rather, it's the scars on his gimpy left knee.

A few years ago at Prairie Dunes, baseball hall of famer George Brett was the special guest there. Both he and Elway have said the same thing about golf: you just can't force anything, like in baseball or football.

Brett made a great analogy about being used to having to concentrate when the crowd is roaring, screaming, in baseball. In golf, the crowd is silent, almost putting him in a state of paralysis when he's standing over the ball.

Idle thought: never ceases to amaze me how far and long the women can hit it.

On that note, Australian Katherine Hull -- an exempt player on the tour -- said there are no weeks you can take off because of the competition. She would know. She spent some time on the Futures Tour, playing her way onto the tour.

Posted by Ken Klavon at 03:29 PM

Welcome to the U.S. Women's Open, where we will aim to please. For those of you who did not catch the U.S. Open last week, we blogged there too. Here's the link: http://www.usopen.com/news/blog.html

This will be an area where we'll blog about ancillary thoughts that wouldn't otherwise make it into stories. Some of it will, but our hope is that it will be a lighter look at the week.

So here we go .........

First thought. Does Annika Sorenstam continue her way to the Grand Slam? Looks pretty loose out there now. However, it's only Tuesday.

Great sight so far besides the picturesque mountains in the background: Carin Koch signing autographs while holding a box of packaged jelly beans in the other hand. She's handing them out to kids.

Back in a bit with more.

Posted by Ken Klavon at 02:48 PM