Jang is Major Tough

When you have a country that turns out one great golfer after another, like South Korea has done in the past few years, one unfortunate side effect is that sometimes an extremely gifted woman might end up being totally overlooked in the crowd. This is an ultra talented group, after all, that could probably field a team of 12 world class players tomorrow for a Solheim Cup-like event. A group that includes a recent Hall of Fame inductee like Se Ri Pak, the player leading the league in top tens, Mi Hyun Kim, and the second ranked player on tour, who has already won a Major in 2004, Grace Park. Even when you get farther down the line, you are still competing for attention with the likes of two time winner Hee-Won Han, who was fourth last year on the LPGA money list; two time winner Gloria Park, who is having a strong 2004 season; Shi Hyun Ahn, the mighty teenager who looks primed to win Rookie of the Year (and if she doesn't do it, 18 year old sensation Aree Song probably will); and so on and so on.

JJ at the Rochester International
Bob McIntosh for SeoulSisters.com

JJ very nearly won the 2002
British Open

With all that talent, it is no wonder that occasionally a player comes along and quietly has a great season, yet does not get much attention. Jeong Jang is such a player this year. She has not gotten the attention Jung Yeon Lee, for instance, has gotten in 2004; but then again, Jang has not shot a 60 and nearly broken 59 (at least not yet!). JJ, as she is known on tour, gets the job done more quietly. And she is not a teenager like Song or Michelle Wie, but again, Jang is hardly an old timer, at just 24 years of age (people forget, or did not know, that she joined the tour in 2000 as a 19 year old herself). But coming into this year's US Women's Open, Jang was 17th on the money list, her highest ever placing, and was playing some of her best golf of the year. One of the best ways to get attention would be to perform well in the biggest event in women's golf.

Or would it? For a quick look at JJ's record shows that she has been quite consistent in Majors, especially lately. She has not contended very often, but has still managed some very impressive finishes in the last few years in the biggest events on tour.

It started with a solid showing at the 2002 US Women's Open, a 22nd place. She followed that up with arguably her best Major yet; the 2002 British Open, where on Sunday she found herself in contention with a real shot at the title. Alas, she was not able to overcome Karrie Webb, and finished tied for 4th. She followed that with a tie for 21st at the 2003 Nabisco, and a tie for 11th at last year's McDonald's LPGA Championship.

Then came the 2003 US Women's Open. Jang played well most of the weekend, and suddenly, by the fifth hole on Sunday, found herself within just a shot of the lead. She had a fantastic chance for her first ever Major, and seemed to be playing better than most of the other contenders on the course. But the par 3 5th hole, which involved a nasty water carry to a tricky green, did her in. In quick succession, she drowned two consecutive balls, and walked off the hole with a quintuple bogey 8. Had she just made double bogey, she would have been involved in the playoff for the title; had she made bogey, she would have been champion outright.

JJ recovered fine the next week, with a top ten at the Canadian Open, then followed that with another good performance, a tie for 14th, at the British Open. This year she managed a 23rd both at the Nabisco and at the LPGA Championship, extending her streak of top 25 finishes in Majors to 8 events.

Coming into this event, her game has been steadily improving all year, and so has her money list position. She nabbed an 11th at the Corning Classic, and a second place at the Kellogg's/Keebler Classic (which tied for her best finish of all time). The week before the Open, she had finished fifth in Rochester for her 2nd top ten of the year. Would another good performance be lost in the hype about the more high profile Koreans?

JJ wondered what went wrong on hole 5 at last
year's US Women's Open...
Seoul Sisters Exclusive Photo

Se Ri was great with an iron in her
hands on Thursday; her driver was
another story...

Not this week. Grace Park, who has been the most consistent of the Seoul Sisters all year, had a problem. She had dropped out of the previous event in Rochester owing to a back injury. Though she claimed she was ready to go, things would not prove to be so smooth for her. Se Ri Pak, the top Korean player, was mired in a bad slump that saw her driver misbehaving all year. She said repeatedly that, except for that, her game was fine. But the one thing you cannot have at an US Women's Open is a faulty driver. Only Mi Hyun Kim, among the top four Koreans, had been deadly with her consistency; but it was questionable how well the course would set up for her game.

The first day was a long one that was interrupted twice for rain delays. The afternoon players were the ones who got hit hardest by this, including Se Ri, but despite this, she managed a very good one under par 70 to start things out. But ominous signs were already there; though she hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation, she only hit half of her fairways. Indeed, her round was postponed (owing to darkness) right at the point where she was starting to make birdies. Though she finished her round with all pars on Friday, things would get much worse thereafter.

Grace, who had played in the morning on Thursday and thus avoided the rain, managed an even par round which included an eagle, a birdie and three bogeys. Her stats all seemed solid, and perhaps indicated that her back was not going to be much of an issue. But Kimmie fell utterly apart with a 5 over par 76; it seemed like it would be the last she would be seen, but in fact she would be back for more later.