Ahn Her Way

This year's Rookie of the Year contest has turned into a battle between three strong young Korean players (well, maybe two and a half, depending on how you describe Aree Song's heritage). Contestant number one, Aree Song, was the player who had the most notoriety coming into this season, and is also the youngest. She had already, as an amateur, notched top tens in two LPGA Majors, including one as a 13 year old. She had very nearly won the US Women's Open in 2003. Most everyone expected her to become a superstar, so much so that she was given a rare exemption to allow her to compete on tour even though she had not yet reached the age of 18. In 2004, she has perhaps exceeded even the experts' expectations. She very nearly won the Nabisco, the year's first Major, after a thrilling eagle putt that ranks among the greatest final hole charges in women's golf history. She has had at least one other great chance to put away a tournament, although she fell apart in the final round there. Her great play has enabled her to stand 14th on the money list to date.

Shi Hyun Ahn at this year's
Corning Classic

Shi Hyun is flying high in 2004

But another rookie has also played magnificently in 2004, and her results have been a complete surprise. Seol-An Jeon, herself only 22, played on the Futures Tour last year, where she did respectably well, but nothing Earth shattering. She was a surprise qualifier for an exempt card at Q-School last Fall. But nothing prepared people for just how well she has played in 2004. Like Song, she, too, has had a great chance to win an event already. In this case it was the Takefuji Classic, where she battled with Cristie Kerr in a 7 hole sudden death playoff, the longest in the LPGA in 30 years. She has one other top ten and a number of other good finishes as well, which allowed her to sit in the top 20 on the money list, just a few spots behind Aree Song. Jeon showed that the Rookie of the Year competition would be anything but a cakewalk for Aree Song.

And then there's Shi Hyun Ahn, the 19 year old sensation with one of the most perfect swings I have ever seen. Ahn exploded onto the scene by coming out of nowhere to win the CJ 9 Bridges Classic, and has captivated her Korean fans ever since. She has a wonderful mix of talent, youth, bubbliness and cuteness that has turned her into almost as big a star in Korea as established talents like Se Ri Pak and Grace Park. Movie stars gush about how they are fans and would like to take lessons from her; she has done numerous fashion shoots and has appeared on Korean MTV. Her nickname back home is Cinderella, but it's definitely true that no Fairy Godmother gave her what she now has; she has earned her every accolade.

Although Ahn is the only Rookie who has an LPGA win to her credit, she was not about to rest on her laurels. So she worked extremely hard in the off season, and the results have been great: two top fives in her first two starts. Though she has not come as close to winning as either Song or Jeon have in 2004, she is nonetheless extremely consistent, and that allowed her to rank 24th on the money list coming into the Corning Classic. Though third in the Rookie of the Year standings, no one was about to count her out of that award. Indeed, she has made it her goal to capture that honor, and certainly has the talent to do it. And with both Aree and Seol-An taking the week off, she had an opportunity to make up ground on both of them.

Two weeks ago, Ahn returned to Korea to participate in a KLPGA event. Also playing were Se Ri Pak and Grace Park, and one would expect she would have been lost in the collective glow of those two superstars. But when the dust had settled, it was Shi Hyun who held the trophy. Se Ri had pretty much taken herself out of the event with weak play, but Grace was battling Shi Hyun until the end (and most of the final day had the lead). But Ahn hung tough, made a clutch long birdie at a key moment, and beat Grace by three shots. It was her first KLPGA win, believe it or not.

Shi Hyun outlasted Grace Park to win the
KLPGA's X-Canvas event two weeks ago

Mi Hyun Kim in round 1

In Corning, the first two rounds did not start out well for the Korean players, however. Annika Sorenstam, who has rarely played this event, was here, fresh off a brief vacation, and was determined to regain her #1 spot on the money list. To do so required her to win the event; even a second place finish would leave Grace at the top. To this end, Annika got out to a great start, and after two rounds, she sat at 12 under par, and seemingly was in control of the tournament. But despite her great start, she was not in the lead. That honor fell to little known Michelle Estill, who was actually one shot ahead of Annika after two. But few thought she would be able to hang with the world's number one player for two more rounds.

The Korean players had not done so well, the top two players on the money list who were present in particular. Mi Hyun Kim never really got things going, and after the third round dropped out of the event, citing an elbow problem. However, Mi Hyun had played in every event this year, and most likely was just running out of gas. Jung Yeon Lee also never was in contention, though she did finish with a 31st place result. Young Kim was coming off her best ever LPGA finish, a tie for fourth at the Sybase Classic, but she, too, struggled and finished the event well back in a tie for 69th. And Soo Yun Kang missed another cut.