2005 CJ 9 Bridges Classic

The newspapers were also filled with little tidbits collected from around the grounds in the days before the golf started. For instance, we learned that Young Kim is quite popular with the male fans over in Korea. They have given her the nickname 'Andre' over there. Andre Kim is a famous fashion designer in Korea, known for using colorful cloth in his designs, and apparently they think Young, who is known for wearing bright colors, is kinda a fashionista herself!

When asked if she likes the course, Birdie Kim (who I don't believe has played here before) diplomatically replied, "I'll let you know after my first round. If I play well, then I'll like it; if not, then I won't!" And Mi Hyun Kim treated the folks in the lobby of her hotel to a little entertainment on Wednesday morning. She sat down at the piano and played a few numbers, including a rendition of the Beatles song 'Yesterday'. Who knew Mi Hyun's secret desire was to be an entertainer?

At the sponsor's dinner, everyone, even the KLPGA golfers, wanted
to get a photo with Mi Hyun Kim.

Jee Young Lee had a fabulous first round,
shooting her best ever score

The games begin
On Friday, the first round of the tournament began. The weather was rough right from the start, but as time dragged on, it got progressively worse. Playing in the second group off the tenth tee were two KLPGA players, Jee Young Lee and Hee Young Park. They both took advantage of the comparatively easier weather to shoot low rounds. Lee started on an absolute tear. She birdied 12, 13, 14, and 15, then added two more birdies at 17 and 18 to move to 6 under. At that point, no one else on the course was better than 2 under. This shows that the conditions were still plenty tough even at this stage, and so from the start, Lee had made a huge statement. But the event was still young, and many of the top players had barely started their rounds. How would the rest of her day go?

Well, not as well as the start, but not badly either. She added one more birdie on the 8th hole before bogies on the 2nd and 3rd holes to fall back to 5 under. But she righted the ship again with her eighth birdie of the day on the 4th hole, then added one more birdie on her final hole to move back to 7 under. For the moment, she had quite an imposing lead on the field. One of the players who had managed to keep up with her was her playing partner Park, who sat in the top five after shooting a 3 under herself. So just like that, two KLPGA stars had positioned themselves well.

As the weather got even worse, it looked more and more likely that Lee's score was going to hold up for the day. Annika Sorenstam and Hee-Won Han, playing in the same group, were only able to manage 3 over par 75s. Grace Park, the defending champion, shot a one over par round herself. Jeong Jang, meanwhile, did quite a bit better. The British Women's Open champ had always thrived playing in tough weather, and this day was no different. She notched a five under par 67, good for 2nd place by the end of the day. There was one more player who looked like she might catch Lee: Carin Koch. Koch had already finished second twice at this event in the past, and clearly loved the course. She entered her final hole, the par 5 18th, at 6 under. All she needed was a birdie to catch Lee. But instead she made bogey, and wound up tied with Jang, two shots back.

So Jee Young Lee found herself in the amazing position of leading her first ever LPGA event after the first round. To make this more daunting, this was the exact position Shi Hyun Ahn had found herself in after her first round in 2003, even down to the exact score. Ahn would go on to win the event leading wire to wire; could Lee duplicate her amazing feat? In fact, Se Ri Pak had also started her winning campaign in 2002 with a 7 under par 65, and had also led wire to wire. And though Grace Park in 2003 only managed a 66 in round one, she, too, led the event from start to finish. This seemed to bode well for Jee Young Lee, provided she could keep up the attack.

Annika Sorenstam, Grace Park and
Hee-Won Han played together in round one

Mi Hyun Kim had a great start to her
tournament

Lee's results were even more impressive when it was later revealed that she was struggling with a wrist injury that required her to get regular acupuncture treatments to keep it limber. Apparently she had injured her right wrist earlier in the week, and needed a wrap on it during the event.

Some other LPGA Koreans also managed solid starts. Mi Hyun Kim dazzled her fan club members, many of whom were in attendance all week to shout encouragement at her at every turn, by shooting a 2 under par 70 to start the week. Seon-Hwa Lee, the Futures Tour Player of the Year, also shot a 70 to put herself into the mix. But other Korean stars did not fare so well. Perhaps most mysterious result of all was turned in by Soo-Yun Kang. Kang had been playing beautifully the past few months, but on this day something went seriously wrong, and she shot one of the worst rounds of her career, a 9 over par 81. Even the terrible conditions can't explain this slip up, since her score would turn out to be the very worst one shot all day and would dump her unceremoniously in last place. Christina Kim also struggled, shooting a 2 over par 74, but in her case she was fighting a terrible cold that definitely took some of her fabled fight out of her. And Bo Bae Song, the player fighting for KLPGA Player of the Year, produced a lackluster 4 over par round that effectively knocked her out of the running for this title.