If you've been following women's golf at all the last year or so (and you probably wouldn't be reading this if you haven't), you've heard the name Lorena Ochoa. Ochoa, a 21 year old from Mexico, rewrote the record books as a collegiate golfer when she won an astounding 8 consecutive tournaments in 2002. She turned pro in the summer, joined the Futures Tour and, in the tradition of past college superstars such as Grace Park and Beth Bauer, topped the money list there and earned an LPGA full exemption without having to go to Q School. Not surprisingly, as the 2003 season began, all the talk in terms of rookies centered on the Guadalajara native. Not just that she would win the Rookie of the Year award, which they were practically awarding to her before the first ball was struck, but that she might even manage to finish top ten on the overall LPGA money list.

Forgotten in the hype was Christina Kim, a native of San Jose, California, who had finished second to Ochoa on the Futures Tour by a mere $242. Granted, Kim had played twice as many events as Ochoa to do that. But Kim did not have Ochoa's gaudy amateur record, having gone directly from high school to the Futures Tour, so she was largely ignored in the hoopla. Meanwhile, the Koreans sent over an impressive crop of rookies, their biggest yet. Included in that batch was Young Kim, a 23 year old with a ton of promise, two wins on the KLPGA and one on the Futures Tour, and a top five finish on the KLPGA money list in 2002. But because American media is barely aware of the KLPGA, she, too, flew under the radar.

Young Kim. Reuters/Jeff Topping

Young Kim in round 2. Reuters/Jeff Topping

What a difference a tournament can make. I suspect Ochoa will still win the prize in the end, but now you can no longer say it is a foregone conclusion. And that is thanks to the great performances of these two young players.

In fact, right from the very beginning, the two of them made themselves quite at home on tour. Young Kim was going along at a fairly boring pace for the first twelve holes, shooting even par. Then everything changed on the twelfth hole, a par three. Her tee shot took a bounce and jumped right into the hole for a hole in one. In her very first LPGA round! Se Ri Pak still hasn't had a hole in one in her career. She birdied the next hole, then powered herself onto the par 5 15th in two and nailed the eagle putt. In just three holes Kim went from even par to 5 under. She added two more birdies on 16 and 17, and suddenly she had a chance to make history: if her final birdie putt on 18 went in, she would shoot a 27, tying the all time LPGA record. Alas, she just missed, but a 28 back nine, and 63 overall score was good enough to put her near the top of the leaderboard.

Meanwhile, Christina Kim was having her own dynamite premiere round on tour. No eagles, but she ended up with 7 birdies against a lone bogey to shoot a 64. Thus the two top Seoul Sisters after round one were not Se Ri and Grace but two rookies!

It's a mark of just how low the scoring was in round 2 that, even though Christina Kim shot a 67, she actually lost ground, finishing the day in 10th. Young Kim, however, continued her torrid pace. She chalked up three birdies on the front, and a matching pair on the back to go 6 under 64. Yet even she lost ground, because the scoring was so ridiculously low that Meg Mallon shot the first 60 in LPGA history, and almost managed 59. Meg thus had a three shot lead over Young Kim, who sat tied for second.

Christina Kim