Asahi Ryokuken 2003: Stoned Seoul Picnic

The Asahi Ryokuken International Championship has, without a doubt, the most tongue twisting name of all the LPGA events on the schedule (imagine for a second if Mhairi McKay, pronounced VAR-ee Mc-KAI, were to win: not a sportscaster in the country would get the tournament name and winner correct, I'd wager!). Like many other events in the new look LPGA, it is sponsored by a foreign company, in this case a Japanese one that makes a health drink by the name of Shinzen Green. This elixir is composed of barley and looks vaguely like someone pureed clippings from the last time you mowed your lawn. Those who tuned in to watch the golf were treated to the odd commercials for this stuff, which mostly consist of various Japanese people trying to threaten or convince other Japanese people to actually try it (I'm not gonna try it, you try it... that sort of thing). Finally someone does drink it, and after rather too loud swallowing noises (just to convince you they actually DID drink it), the victim... er, volunteer proudly proclaims, 'It's good!' (probably hoping this will convince the other suckers to have a belt, too).

Se Ri meets the press before the
tournament

My other favorite ad has a mother, father and daughter each drinking a glass, and then the wife exhorts her husband to stand up straight. 'Husband!' she cries, and he proceeds to mouth the words 'Healthy! Healthy! Healthy!' (in Japanese of course). Then in a moment straight out of 'Groundhog Day', the scene repeats, and repeats again, and you can't help wonder if the makers of the ad are suggesting the drink has mind altering properties.

Perhaps the Korean players were worried that they would be asked to take an 18th hole swig of the Green after winning the event, much like Grace got to chug a bottle of Michelob after winning the Kingsmill event the previous week. (OK, I promise I'm through picking on the sponsors!). But regardless, in a surprisingly lackluster performance, 14 of the 18 Koreans on tour came to this event, and none of them made much of a splash. Only at the Nabisco had a similar bad result occurred, and at least there the number of attending Seoul Sisters was significantly lower. So if it wasn't the Shinzen Green, what was in the air or water that accounts for this occurrence?

Se Ri's not sure what happened to her game
Reuters/Tami Chappell

Well, first of all, let's backtrack a bit. Although the Korean gals as a whole did not threaten to take this trophy, they didn't exactly play horribly, either. In fact, one player, Hee-Won Han, did manage to grab a top ten, albeit a ninth place finish, keeping alive the streak of having at least one Korean in the top ten every week (although at the Nabisco only Michelle Wie, a Korean American, managed to do this). Se Ri Pak had a pretty terrible first round, then was never able to get things going on a consistent basis, but still nearly got a top ten herself, ending up in 14th. Gloria Park finished with a flurry, a 6 under 66 that tied for low round of the week; she also tied for 14th. And Grace Park, Soo Yun Kang, Mi Hyun Kim and Young Kim also notched top 30 finishes. Seven Koreans in the top 30 is not a bad turnout at all, actually.

But still, even Han was far down the leaderboard come Saturday and Sunday. It was probably about time that an American won an event this year, but that almost nobody but Americans were even in contention was definitely a surprise. So, in the immortal words of Mike LaFontaine, manager of the New Main Street Singers, 'Wha Happened???'

Let's start at the top. And in the Seoul Sister hierarchy, that means Se Ri Pak. Se Ri is a great great player, but one thing I've noticed over the years is that she seem to play her best when she only plays about three consecutive events tops. Any more than that and she starts to run out of steam. Well, this was her fourth event in a row, and that was a cause for worry right off the bat. Want proof? Se Ri only twice last year finished out of the top 20. The first time was the sixth event in seven weeks (the Giant Eagle). The second was her fourth consecutive event in as many weeks (the Williams Championship). To make it even more tiring, she had in this current four tournament stretch a four hole playoff at the Chick-Fil-A, and a rather tough course at the Michelob Light Open.

The first round was a killer for her. She started off with a bogey, then was not able to make anything but pars for the next 11 holes. Still, the scores at the time were not overly low, so she wasn't far out of the lead. But nothing seemed to be very solid. She hit only 11 greens on the day, very low for her, and once again had trouble with keeping her driver in the short stuff. She finally broke the par streak with a second bogey, and only a chip in on the 8th hole (her second to last) to save par, and a birdie on the 9th (finally!) saved it from being a disaster. Though she was not in terrible condition at +1 at first, though, by the end of the day enough people had gone low that Se Ri was deep in the hole, and seemed to have little chance to climb out.

A nice drive from round 3
Reuters/Tami Chappell