SeoulSisters Awards

Player of the Year
Mi Hyun Kim
This was perhaps the toughest battle between Korean players for this award in the history of this magazine. In years past, there has always been one golfer who clearly separated herself from the flock, making this award almost a foregone conclusion. But this year, there were four golfers that could have legitimately won this award. Three golfers had two wins apiece in 2006: Hee-Won Han, Jeong Jang and Mi Hyun Kim. JJ only won once on the LPGA tour, but her other international win came at one of the most important events, if not the most important, on the JLPGA tour, the Japanese Women's Open. Then there's Se Ri Pak, who only had one win in 2006, but it was a Major. She was the only Korean to win an LPGA Major in 2006.

Looking at other factors, such as number of top tens achieved, scoring average and general consistency, Se Ri falls out of the hunt. Kimmie had 13 top tens in 2006; she also had a staggering nine top fives in those 13 top tens. Jeong Jang did even better, notching 14 top tens on the year (but only five top fives), while Hee-Won Han had ten top tens (six top fives). Kimmie finished 6th on the money list, JJ 8th and Hee-Won 9th.

Based on that information, the battle came down to JJ and Mi Hyun Kim. But deciding which of those two deserved the award was a major challenge. Do you count Mi Hyun's two wins on the LPGA as being more impressive than JJ's win in Japan and one win here? What counts more, Kimmie's higher money total, or JJ's greater number of top tens?

Here are some more statistics to ponder. At the Majors this year, JJ, who is usually quite strong in Majors, only finished inside the top 20 once, at the Nabisco, and even there she only finished 19th. She was in contention at the US Women's Open for awhile, but fell apart in the final round thanks to that ruling controversy, and finished 28th. Mi Hyun, meanwhile, missed the cut at the British, and didn't contend at the Nabisco or Open. But at the LPGA Championship, she was in contention right until the end, and wound up just outside the playoff for the title; she finished third. That category goes to Kimmie.

How many times did each player have a good chance to win a tournament on the back nine on Sunday? JJ had her chances at the Kolon-Hana Bank, where she finished second, although Jin Joo Hong had the event pretty much in control on the back nine; and was a short birdie putt away from a playoff at the Safeway Classic. She also finished second at the ShopRite, although Seon Hwa Lee ran away with that tournament in the final few holes, and she probably should have made it to the final round of the ADT, but Paula Creamer touched her out at the last moment with a birdie on the final hole in round three. Kimmie, meanwhile, came very close at the LPGA Championship. She faded on Sunday at the MasterCard Classic, but had a good chance to win the ADT, making it into the final round. Alas, she only had a so so Sunday and finished tied for 4th, not really in the hunt on the back nine. This category is impossible to call.

Mi Hyun was 5th in Player of the Year points with 137, 10th in scoring average with 71.02 and 6th in money total. She also was in the top ten in birdies (336, 6th place), rounds under par (9th place), fairways hit (4th), and putting average (28.96, 8th). JJ was 9th in Player of the Year points with 104, 8th in scoring average with 70.81, and 8th in money. She beat Mi Hyun in birdies (343, 5th) and rounds in the 60s (6th), but lost to her in putting , accuracy off the tee and rounds under par (she was 10th in that category). This is a wash, as she won one important category (scoring average), lost another one, Player of the Year points, and they split the rest.

How do you rank the importance of JJ's win in Japan? Kimmie did not play in that event, and perhaps if she had, she might have beaten JJ. But you can't give points for what might have happened, and only one player this year won a Major on another tour, and that was Jang. This should not be ignored. Then again, a Japanese Major just doesn't have the strong field an LPGA Major, or even a top event on the LPGA tour, has.

Kimmie didn't win a Major, but she did come back from her worst ever season to produce brilliance, won at least one event that was just a notch below a Major with a very strong field (the Ginn Clubs), and put herself in the hunt for the million dollars at the ADT on Sunday, the only top Korean golfer who did that.

In the end, we decided to give the award to Mi Hyun Kim, both for the tangibles and the intangibles. She had more LPGA wins and came closest at a Major; her big win at the Ginn had the tougher field than JJ's two wins. She beat Jang in top five finishes, money and Player of the Year, which is perhaps the best indication that she played better on the year than JJ did. They both were in contention but lost pretty much the same number of times, but only Peanut had a chance to win an LPGA Major this year. And the added difficulty of coming back from such a long winless drought made her win at the Ginn all the more impressive. So, in a battle of two of the smallest but toughest ladies on the LPGA tour, Mi Hyun edges out her good friend to win our Player of the Year award. Congratulations to her!

Honorable Mentions:
Jeong Jang
Hee-Won Han