Money list total: $628,804 (16th)
Scoring Average: 71.25 (24th)
Player of the Year Total: 61.00 (10th)
Wins: 0
Majors: 0 (1 top ten)
Top 2's: 2
Top 5's: 6
Top 10's: 8
Missed cuts: 4
Birdies: 315 (14th)
Eagles: 13 (12th)
Greens in Regulation: .686 (29th)
Other notable stats: 11th in rounds under par (50); 8th in rounds in the 60s (30); 44th in driving accuracy (74.3%); 19th in driving distance (260.1 yards); 25th in putting (29.53); 12th in putts/GIR (1.78)

Shi Hyun greets fans at the airport in Korea

Notable achievements:
Shi Hyun became the fourth Korean golfer in the last seven years to win the Rolex Rookie of the Year award on the LPGA tour, and the youngest.

She started her year with two straight top five finishes.

Shi Hyun notched a second place finish in only her second Major, the LPGA Championship.

She finished in the top twenty in numerous statistical categories, including scoring average and money list position.

Shi Hyun had two second place finishes in 2004, both times losing to Annika Sorenstam.

Assessment:
Shi Hyun Ahn is known as 'Cinderella' in South Korea, owing to the way she joined the LPGA tour: by coming out of nowhere to win the 2003 CJ 9 Bridges Classic. It was a great victory, but it put a lot of pressure on the (barely) nineteen year old Ahn. Now she would have to travel to America, perhaps years before she had planned to, in order to compete with the best players in the world on the LPGA tour.

Ahn did a wonderful job in her rookie year showing what she was capable of. After a rigorous off-season training program, she burst onto the scene in 2004 with back to back top five finishes. Although she missed the cut at the Nabisco Championship, which allowed rookie rival Aree Song to take the lead in the Rookie of the Year race, Ahn was far from done in 2004.

Her best performances came in June. She followed up a solid 4th place finish at the Corning Classic with three great rounds at the McDonald's LPGA Championship, the year's second Major. It looked as though she would grab a top ten there, but have no chance to win, as Annika Sorenstam had established a nine shot lead over her in those first three days. Thanks to weather problems, Ahn had had to play 36 holes for the first time in her life in one day (on Saturday). But her youth and fitness enabled her to do it, and she still had plenty left on Sunday. Still, after nine holes, Ahn was still seven shots back.

But then Sorenstam made a double bogey and a bogey, and the lead was cut to four. Ahn would go on to make two more birdies, and in less than an hour, she had moved from seven back to two back. Suddenly, Shi Hyun had a shot at the Major title! Even a ridiculous 60 foot birdie putt by Annika did not allow her to shake Ahn, who made her own birdie to again move within two. But Shi Hyun finally ran out of holes, and her chip on the 18th hole rebounded off the flag, sticking her with a par. A valiant effort, and a second place finish.

Ahn demonstrated all sorts of talent during her Rookie of the Year campaign. But what was most impressive about her was her resilience. She never gave up, and seemed immune to pressure. Perhaps the only time she made a serious mistake when otherwise doing well was at the CJ 9 Bridges Classic, where she made an uncharacteristic bogey on the final hole to drop out of solo second place. And she did run out of gas by season's end, playing some really bad events in the final days of the year. But that's just a learning process; she had never before played anywhere near this many events in a year.

What she should work on:
Everything seems solid with Shi Hyun. She just needs to get used to playing on tour, the travel, and the culture. Her game seems to be taking care of itself.