Jang showing she's at home with LPGA's best

WILLIAMSBURG

Jeong Jang on Saturday produced a classic, put-it-in-the-vault example of how to survive and thrive as a third wheel.

Just so you know, Jang is the world's eighth-ranked golfer in case, like me, you don't hang on those weekly Rolex dispatches. But be honest; she was the afterthought in the third Lorena Ochoa-Annika Sorenstam mega-grouping in as many days at the Michelob Ultra Open.

Yet while No. 1 Ochoa shockingly dropped engine parts all over the tricky, weather-whipped River Course trying to chase down No. 2 Sorenstam, Jang purred smooth and steady.

She did also-rans everywhere proud.

Defending Ultra champ Suzann Pettersen sampled that role Thursday and Friday and got no traction at all, shooting par while Sorenstam and Ochoa went a collective minus-21.

(Hmm. Was it coincidence Pettersen, freed from the Sorenstam-Ochoa force field, fired Saturday's best round, a 6-under 65? Debate and discuss...)

But Jang, who has won twice on tour - including the 2005 British Open - not only was not blinded by the celebrity glare. She woman-ed up and matched Sorenstam's 69 to earn a final-round do-over today with Annika.

"I think I had a great time with the galleries," Jang said. "Doesn't matter who they're cheering for.... I was surprised I was not nervous today. Maybe I will be nervous tomorrow, but today, not at all."

The 27-year-old South Korean will start today at 11-under, three shots behind Sorenstam, whose three-day bogey-less streak ended when her tee shot on No. 18 quacked into the lake.

Nonetheless, Sorenstam, who has battled injuries, is clearly roaring back into intimidating, rock-like form.

She continually canned knee-knockers to save pars, and answered her worst swing of the year - that hacker's hook on 18 - with a solid drive and a near hole-out for par from 162 yards.

"She's coming back. I think she's almost there," Jang said. "She's awesome."

Truth be told, Jang is approaching exceptional herself. Five-foot-2 and powerfully built, she's logged a second- and third-place finish this season, six top-20s in eight events and is sixth on the LPGA money list.

Jang did make the first mistake in Saturday's threesome - a stray approach on No. 1 that found a bunker and led to a bogey. But that was really about it in the miscue category, although Jang - J.J. to her pals on tour - continues to play with an injured right wrist she heavily tapes.

But file this about Jang; she's about more than steel-willed competition and staring down the world's top-ranked golfers. Jang has an obvious soft spot that makes you go "wow, how nice."

An hour after she won a tournament in Rochester, N.Y., in 2006, Jang attended a ceremony at a nearby Korean War memorial that commemorated Americans who died in that conflict.

And three years ago Jang learned about Operation Smile, the Norfolk-based medical mission that performs reconstructive facial surgeries for children on a global scale.

Jang committed to funding expenses for one child per month - about $300 each time, she said - and visited the Operation Smile office in Norfolk last year. Her golf bag bears the Operation Smile logo, and her support of the organization is featured on the LPGA's Web site.

"I will do it forever, if I can," Jang said.

Wow. How nice.

Forever will have to wait, though. First things first: Jang's attempt today to catch the great Sorenstam.

"I have to make more (birdies) than her, but see what happens," Jang said. "I'm going to have to be a good player tomorrow."

True. But for a fast-riser like Jang, why should today be any different?

Tom Robinson, (757) 446-2518, tom.robinson@pilotonline.com