Fairways and Greens

New Message Board to check out
Hey folks! Have you had a chance yet to check out the new Seoul Sisters Message Board? We were lucky that big time Grace Park fan Jason took the initiative after the LPGA shut down their boards, and created a new board where fans of the Korean players can congregate and share their enthusiasm. Check it out! Here's the link:

http://www.phpbbplanet.com/forum/index.php?mforum=professionalgol

Shi Hyun celebrates a hole out from the
fairway during her practice round at
the Korean Women's Open

Shi Hyun and SG Wannabe

Shi Hyun during round 1 of the X-CANVAS

... and during round 3

Where's Shi Hyun Ahn?
Have you been wondering where the 2004 Rolex Rookie of the Year has been hiding lately? Well, she returned to Korea a few weeks ago to play in a couple of events over there, one of which she was the defending champion at.

First up was the Korean Women's Open, arguably the most prestigious event in Korean golf. Shi Hyun had never won this event before. She was going toe to toe with Bo Bae Song, who had won it twice already in its short history. But neither woman ended up being much of a factor. The winner turned out to be a complete unknown, a 20 year old rookie named Ji Young Lee, who finished the event with a 2 under par total. Shi Hyun finished tied with Bo Bae Song in 10th place at 6 over par.

After that came the X-Canvas Women's Open. This event, in its short two year history, has quite an exciting history, with a victory by Se Ri Pak in its first year, and one by Shi Hyun Ahn in its second (just beating Grace Park). Again Shi Hyun and Bo Bae were in the field, but they were joined by several LPGA superstars: Juli Inkster, Lorena Ochoa, Jennifer Rosales and Carin Koch. As you can see from the included photos, they all met the press beforehand.

Shi Hyun also had a second press conference before the event. A Korean pop group called SG Wannabe (I guess that's how you'd spell it in English) agreed to donate copies of their new CD to all the participants in the event (wonder what Juli Inkster thought about that!). The leader of the group admitted he was really looking forward to meeting Cinderella Shi Hyun Ahn above all other players. So they arranged a nice photo shoot for Shi Hyun and the group.

In the first round, Shi Hyun made a rules infraction that ended up being costly. She hit her tee shot on this par 3 hole very close to an out of bounds stake. Since it interfered with her swing, she took it out of the ground, hit her shot, then put it back. Uh uh, not allowed. It is a two shot penalty to move an OB stake (whereas a stake marking a hazard CAN be moved without penalty. All clear?). Shi Hyun ended up with a quadruple bogey 7 on the hole. She would go on to finish tied for fifth, just two shots out of first place. That two shot penalty cost her a shot at the title.

The winner ended up being Juli Inkster, who shot 7 under par for the tournament. Tied for second were three players, including a 15 year old amateur named Hee Young Choi , and Na Ri Kim, who is profiled elsewhere on this site. Carin Koch was also tied for second. Shi Hyun was tied for fifth, and Lorena Ochoa tied for 11th. I have not been able to find out where Bo Bae Song or Jennifer Rosales finished.

If you want to see lots of photos from these events, click the below links to go to two special galleries!

Korean Women's Open Gallery

X-CANVAS Women's Open Gallery

Kyeong Bae fell to #2 on
the Futures Tour money list

Another Korean almost wins on the Futures Tour
Last week, the Futures Tour event was the Northwest Indiana FUTURES Golf Classic in Merrillville, Indiana. The event was hard fought, but in the middle of the third round, it looked as though American Nicole Castrale would be the easy winner. Not so fast! It wouldn't be a Futures Tour event without a Korean player giving it a run, and that's just what happened. 20 year old Korean Hye Jung Choi of Seoul, South Korea, birdied three of her final four holes to card a 67. Castrale, meanwhile, went on a bogey binge, and looked in danger of losing outright. But she hung on to tie Choi, and none of the other challengers, which included former Women's Amateur Champion Virada Nirapathpongporn, were able to catch her. So, we had a playoff! On the first hole, both players made par and went to a second hole. This time, Choi hit a tree on her approach, but without any fear, hit her third within a few feet for a seemingly easy par save. But Castrale managed to make birdie, and claimed the win. It was close for Choi, though, and her second place finish positioned her at fourth place on the money list. Meanwhile, Nirapathpongporn's third enabled her to overtake Kyeong Bae for the top spot on the money list; Bae is now second. But there are still a lot of tournaments left to be played!

Here's a recap of the action!

http://www.futurestour.com/2005/W052805.asp

Money List
Se Ri Pak looked ready to emerge from her massive slump at the Chick-Fil-A Charity Championship. But after nearly three great rounds, she stumbled mightily, going 9 over par in her last 19 holes to finish well back in the crowd. Another opportunity missed, and for the first time this late in the season, she is not even in the top 100 on the money list (she is currently 103rd). Meanwhile, Jeong Jang and Christina Kim benefited from second place finishes at the Sybase Classic, while Jimin Kang's win at the Corning Classic allowed her to make the biggest jump up the list for this period. Meena Lee, formerly Mee Lee, also has made a reappearance on the list after disappearing for a little while, and the other Korean rookies have also made strides in their positions on the list. Lastly, we now have two players back in the top ten, after having none higher than 14th in last issue's list.