Sybase Classic

But Joo Mi and Christina, incredibly, were not the only Koreans tied for the lead after round two. Also sitting at five under was former champion Gloria Park. Just a couple shots back of them was Hee-Won Han, another former champ, and Mi Hyun Kim was at one under after two. With Jeong Jang at even par, that made for six Korean or Korean American golfers at or under par, out of a total of only 13 players who were at par or better. Finally, it looked like the Koreans were setting themselves up for a serious run at a title.

On Saturday, the conditions were still tough, and the scoring was not low. Everywhere you looked, it seemed like Koreans were moving themselves into position. Nothing even remotely like this had happened all season; for Seoul Sisters fan, it was like a form of Nirvana. Young Kim shot a one under par score to move to 14th place at +2. Soo-Yun Kang shot a 2 under par 69, and sat at +1 and 12th place. Grace Park, who had started with that terrible first round, rebounded with a 67 on Friday and a 68 on Saturday. Suddenly, she was at 1 under and just five shots out of the lead, tied with Jeong Jang.

Hee-Won Han during round 2

JJ came a hair's width away from
her first career win

Unfortunately, the players nearer the top to start the day did not have great rounds, but they all managed decent ones and kept themselves in contention. Christina Kim moved back to the solo lead after a one under par 70. Tied for second were Joo Mi Kim, American Rookie Paula Creamer and Gloria Park, at 5 under. Kimmie was tied for 7th at 3 under. Only Hee-Won Han had had a truly bad round, shooting a 3 over par 74 to drop back to Even for the tournament. But even she was still very much in the tournament. An incredible four Korean/Korean Americans within three shots of the lead, including three in the top four, and five other Koreans with a chance at a top ten. Surely, the odds were great that a Korean would at last capture a victory in 2005.

On Sunday, the conditions were tough, and several of the leaders struggled mightily. Christina Kim in particular got out to a horrendous start, bogeying four of her first eight holes, and Joo Mi Kim bogied four of her first six holes. This allowed Creamer, the one non-Korean in the top four, to take the lead for a while, but she, too, made some mistakes, and at the turn, the tournament was still tightly bunched.

The one Korean player who was really kicking some butt was Jeong Jang. After going out in one under par, she managed three birdies in her final four holes and wrapped up the day with a four under par 67. This allowed her to post a score of five under par for the tournament. Considering the struggles of some of the other players, that might just have proved good enough to win.

Joo Mi Kim eventually started playing a bit better and finished the day at 2 over par, a total of 3 under. That would not be good enough to beat Jang. Nonetheless, she had notched her first top five, and had announced that she was a talent to be reckoned with.

Gloria Park fared a little better. Playing in the same group as Creamer, the second to last group, she made a few mistakes, but also managed a birdie on 15 and 17 to pull to five under herself. But she was unable to birdie the all important par 5 18th hole which would have pulled her ahead of Jang. She, too, sat at 5 under and waited to see what would happen.

By this point, there were only two other players besides Park and Jang who could still win the tournament: Creamer and Christina Kim. Kim had rebounded from her horrible start and sat at 4 under par. She managed a great approach on 17, and had a shot at birdie to pull into a tie for the lead. But she missed the putt, and thus went to the final hole in need of a birdie to tie or eagle to take the lead.

But meanwhile, Creamer had played some great golf. She had managed a few tricky par saves, and made birdies when she needed to. As a result, she, too, was tied for the lead at 5 under as she played the 18th. She put her third shot on the green, not far from the hole. Gloria Park missed her long birdie, then had to watch as Creamer dunked her birdie putt to move to 6 under. It was a clutch shot, and it eliminated both Gloria and Jang from contention. Now, only Christina could beat her, but she needed an eagle to do it.

Gloria Park also challenged for the title

Christina during round 4

It was not to be. Christina only could come up with a par on 18, and so Creamer became one of the youngest LPGA tournament winners in history. The Korean players had at last contended in a big way, but none of them were able to get the job done and actually claim the trophy. Still, they were in it almost until the very end of the event, something quite different from what they had accomplished to date in 2005. And six players ended up with top tens: Jeong Jang and Gloria Park tied for second, Christina Kim and Joo Mi Kim tied for fifth, Mi Hyun Kim in 7th, Soo-Yun Kang in 8th, and Hee-Won Han, Grace Park and Young Kim all close to top tens themselves.

Even better, the Korean rookies had asserted themselves, and though their performances were lost somewhat in the success the rookie Creamer had, Joo Mi Kim, Young Jo, Sung Ah Yim and Meena Lee would soon become the second through fifth top rookies on tour. Without a doubt, they, too, would soon be celebrating many triumphs in America.