By Alex Miceli

Cherry Hills Village, Colo. – Meg Mallon walks away from this year’s U.S. Women’s Open with few regrets.

After shooting a 4-over 75 in the third round, Mallon finished six shots behind Birdie Kim while trying to defend last year’s title. Prior to Kim’s improbable shot on the 72nd hole that won it, she guessed Saturday that 4 over would be the number to win.

Amateur Brittany Lang hits her drive on the fourth hole Sunday. She tied with Morgan Pressel as the low amateur and runner-up to Birdie Kim. (Sam Greenwood/USGA)

Mallon thought she could get there in the final round but could only muster a 2-over 73, good enough to finish tied for 13th.

"It was a great experience," said Mallon. "The U.S. Open isn’t fun because it’s hard work. You’re doing things you don’t normally do in a normal round of golf, but that’s what I like about it. It was the ultimate challenge. It just wasn’t there for me this week, but I had a pretty solid week."

Coming in, Mallon didn’t look like she had much of a chance with her best finish of the season being a 26th-place tie at the Safeway International. After a solid effort this week, Mallon was encouraged that she can get it going the rest of the season.

"I didn’t have a whole lot of confidence coming in and I hit a lot of fairways this week and that was a big, big sign for me, because that was what I was struggling with all year," said Mallon.  "To hit a lot of fairways in the Open it means a lot and I will take that with me for the rest of the year."

Almost

Lori Kane may go home and think of would could have been.  After a solid start of 74-71, Kane was tied for ninth at 3 over and just five shots off the lead, but a third round 76 on Saturday cost her any chance of winning unless she went very low on Sunday.  Unfortunately for Kane, the poor play on Saturday was more due to physical illness then her swing.

Walking up the fifth hole, Kane started to feel uneasy and lightheaded.  She would eventually require medical attention and some intervention from her playing competitor Natalie Gulbis, who had all types of energy bars in her bag. It seemed to help Kane get through the rough stretch.

"I wish to God I had felt better yesterday," said Kane. "I really thought after my second round I had some momentum going and yesterday starting I doubled the first hole. It had nothing to do with how I was feeling, because I was feeling great until the fifth hole. And then I felt very ill for a few holes and that caused me to lose my energy. But I battled through it, got a good night’s sleep last night and came out today really confident."

Shooting a 2-under 69, Kane was the only player in the field to shoot in the 60s Sunday, and the only player to break par when Cherry Hills played to a 76.097 scoring average.  Kane’s birdie-birdie-par finish moved her to 6 over and, at the time, the leader in the clubhouse. That lasted about an hour until Natalie Gulbis finished at 6 over too.

Eventually both Gulbis and Kane were passed by amateur Brittany Lang, but the experience of finishing tied for fourth, her best finish in an Open since 1999, was the biggest prize.

"I’m really excited about next week because I’m swinging it and putting it where I want to, and when that happens – when you play under the pressure of the U.S. Open -- I think it raises your level of concentration," said Kane.  "And I’m just encouraged by what I’m seeing."

No Slam

Entering the week Annika Sorenstam was the story; she had won two legs of the Grand Slam and was seeking the third this week.  But Sorenstam could never get on track, and instead of the story, she was one of the a sundry notes that comes out of a Women’s Open.

Shooting 71-75-73-77, Sorenstam never broke par. She shot even par once.  Her tie for 23rd was her worst finish in the Women’s Open since she missed the cut in 1999 when she was trying to three-peat at Old Waverly.

"I am disappointed, but I am going to leave here and I am going to know in my heart that I gave it all," said Sorenstam. "Having said that, that just gives me something to work on.  That's not a bad thing."

Usually a statistical leader, she was unimpressive this week.  Before the Women’s Open, Sorenstam ranked 13th in birdies, 24th in fairways hit with a 76.5 percent average, first in greens in regulations at 75.3 percent and eighth in putting with 28.70 putts per round.

This week Sorenstam was ranked 47th in fairways hit, 32nd in greens in regulations and 41st in putting, 43rd in birdies.

By comparison, Kim ranked ninth in greens in regulation, sixth in putting and 14th in birdies.

"It's tough to speculate," said Sorenstam.  "I had a game plan.  I am not going to second-guess myself.  Normally when I come up with a plan it works, so I am going to leave it at that."

Tough Finisher

All week the 18th hole had been the nemesis of the entire field, and until Birdie Kim shocked the golf world by holing out on the 72nd hole, the 18th was holding it’s own on Sunday.

Looking at the first 30 players on the leaderboard, 19 of them made a bogey or worse on the 18th. But the cruelest may have been Lorena Ochoa who made a quadruple bogey eight to fall from 3 over to 7 over and lose any chance of winning the championship.

The 18th on Sunday played to a stroke average of 4.571 and for the week 4.667. It gave up only four birdies all championship.