By Dave Shedloski
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Cristie Kerr, scrambling out of the rough on the eighth hole Sunday, executed a number of missteps in losing the lead. (John Mummert/USGA) |
Bethlehem, Pa. – With her steely nerves and steady play, no one seemed better prepared to win the 64th U.S. Women’s Open than Cristie Kerr.
So, therefore, it follows that no one was more ill-prepared for the deflating setback that Kerr encountered Sunday at Saucon Valley Country Club.
“I just didn’t play well,” were the first words out of Kerr’s mouth after her closing 4-over 75 on the Old Course left her tied for third place, two strokes behind Eun-Hee Ji, who birdied the final hole for a one-stroke victory over Candie Kung. “I tried my heart out. I tried as hard as I could. I just wasn’t the better player today.”
She certainly didn’t seem herself or at least the player who appeared so comfortable with the major championship milieu, which included suffocating pressure and a pernicious golf course. Through 54 holes, Kerr was the only player under par and had a two-shot lead on the field. Even with her struggles, Kerr led by as many as three on the outward nine. There was no hint that she would come unglued on a course softened by overnight rains and then drenched all day in warm sunshine.
Kerr and Ji, who birdied three of the last six holes for a 71, drew by far the largest gallery, and yet the 31-year-old American star from Miami, Fla., must have felt increasingly alone as the day progressed.
She pushed her opening drive, and that miscue led to a sobering bogey on the par 5.
“Not the way you want to start out, but just, yeah, it just didn't feel the same,” said Kerr. “I didn't go out and do all the things as well as I did the last three days. It wasn't for lack of trying. Maybe I was just a little tighter out there today. Maybe it was a little bit of the pressure. Whatever it was, I tried to do everything the same, but it wasn’t the same. It just didn’t quite happen for me.”
Winner of the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open, where she also led after 54 holes, Kerr seemed to right herself with a birdie at the short par-4 third hole. But bogeys at the fifth and sixth, the latter another par 5, dropped her to even par. Candie Kung eventually caught up to her on the second nine to end Kerr’s run of almost two full rounds with the outright lead.
But Kung wasn’t her only concern. Her missteps had allowed a number of other contenders into the fray, including Ji, In-Kyung Kim and Brittany Lincicome, who got within a stroke before finishing fifth. And although Kerr created chances for herself, the putter wouldn’t cooperate. The killing blow, however, came at the par-4 16th, when she managed to muscle a 6-iron onto the green from the deep right rough. Faced with an uphill 12-footer, Kerr raced the birdie attempt 5 feet by the hole and missed the comebacker for her only three-putt of the week.
“That was the epitome of her day right there,” said her swing coach Jim McLean. “That was just not Cristie Kerr golf out there today.
“She didn’t hit it that good, but her putter really let her down. Then she started fighting it. I played here in the Senior Open [in 2000], and it might have been harder than we played it. A few mistakes, and you see what can happen.”
Added Kerr on the first putt at 16: “I wanted to make it too much. I hit it so hard it was ridiculous. It was almost a hacker putt, I hit it so bad.”
She also hit a lot of good putts, including the 35-foot left-to-right birdie attempt up the slope at 18 that burned the edge. The only consolation to the miss was Ji’s ensuing birdie to finish at level-par 284. Kerr, who had 35 putts in the final round, third most on the day, tied Kim at 286 for her fourth top-four finish in this championship.
“I know she must be heart-broken,” said McLean. “She played some brilliant golf, but it’s so hard to sustain it for four days and play with the lead as long as she did.”
Winner of 12 LPGA titles, including the Michelob Open at Kingsmill two months ago, Kerr is enjoying a solid season with nine top-10 finishes and more than $1 million in earnings. But the disappointments have been significant. Not only is there Sunday’s setback rattling around in her psyche, but there’s also the tie for second at the year’s first major, the Kraft Nabisco, where she led with four holes remaining only to be passed by Lincicome.
“Those don’t feel good, even as well as she is playing,” said McLean. “I just hope she bounces back quickly because this is the most important tournament for her, and she’s really built for this championship. This is the one she wants to win the most.”
Kerr, who let out her frustrations by kicking her golf bag after missing yet another birdie try at the 17th, insisted that her closing Women’s Open effort wouldn’t linger. Her calm demeanor and straightforward comments in her post-round press conference seemed to suggest she already had come to terms with the loss.
“I don't really think it's going to bother me too much, because I don't feel like it was mental,” she said. “I felt like it was more physical today than mental. Had it been, you know, I made some stupid mental errors out there, but I felt like it was just a little off here, a little off there. I definitely lost it; I gave it away. But I just have to put it behind me and move on.”
That’s not so easy for a player who expected to be moving up, not on. But it’s what Kerr has to do, whether she’s prepared for it or not.
Dave Shedloski is a freelance writer whose work has previously appeared on www.uswomensopen.com.
