Top Ten Korean Golf Stories of 2006

5. Kim Squared wins the US Amateur
At the start of the year, there was exactly one Hawaiian teenage women's golfer whom everyone had heard of, and that was Michelle Wie. A 14 year old high school student from the big island named Kimberly Kim was only starting to make a name for herself in her own state. But by the end of the year, Kim Squared, as she is known, had shattered a bunch of records and established herself as one of the top teenage golfers in the world.

Kim's magical summer began at the US Amateur Pub Links, one of the most important USGA golf events of the year. With her great length off the tee and mental focus, Kim plowed through the field, eventually reaching the finals, where she faced another Korean American, 19 year old Tiffany Joh. Despite being outdriven by dozens of yards - at one point, Kim even drove the green on a par four - Joh easily handled the inexperienced Kim and took the title. But Kim Squared had announced that she was a force to be reckoned with.

In August, the US Women's Amateur, the USGA's most important amateur event, was contested at Pumpkin Ridge in Oregon. Most of the top amateur golfers in the country were there, including Joh and a raft of other top Korean and Korean American stars. But by the time only four golfers were left, the only Korean American left standing was Kim Kim. In the semifinals, she faced a golfer almost as young as she, 15 year old Lindy Duncan. It was nip and tuck all day, but Kim managed to squeak out a victory on the final hole. In so doing, she became the youngest golfer to ever make the finals of the US Amateur, male or female. But now the real challenge began: a thirty six hole battle for the title.

Her opponent was a 26 year old German named Katherina Schallenberg. Kim, with helpful swing hints written in ink on her arms, was clearly a bit overwhelmed at the start of the match, and before long, Schallenberg carved out a healthy lead. After Kim hit her tee shot into the water on the 12th, and lost 13 and 15 as well, Schallenberg had a 5 up lead. Kim would need to show some grit to get back into the game.

Kim responded by winning the next three holes to cut the lead to 2 down going into the afternoon session. After lunch, she decided to follow the advice of her caddie and play "Smash Mouth Golf", meaning she should be as aggressive as she could be. By the 8th hole she had tied up the match, and after a birdie on 12 and a win on 13, she moved to 2 up. But Schallenberg won the 14th hole, and the lead was cut to one.

The last four holes were an amazing battle, as each player produced great shots to keep the match tight. On the 17th, Kim made an unlikely birdie after hitting her approach from the fairway bunker. Schallenberg also made birdie. On 18, Schallenberg chipped in for birdie, forcing Kim to make a six foot birdie to win. And Kim Squared did, winning the title and becoming the youngest to ever collect this important tournament. In a year filled with great performances by Korean teenagers, this might have been the most impressive of all.

4. Seon Hwa Lee ROY season
The LPGA Rookie class of 2006 was one of the deepest in LPGA history. One needs only look at the number of rookies who finished in the top fifty on the money list to see that. At the start of the year, however, few sports writers in this country were talking about the Koreans in the class as possible Rookie of the Year candidates. Yet by the end of the year, several Koreans had distinguished themselves, and one had decisively claimed the title of the top rookie in 2006. That golfer was Seon Hwa Lee.

Seon Hwa had gotten into the LPGA thanks to her consistency, so it should not have come as a surprise that this would be one of the hallmarks of her LPGA career to date. In 2005, she had finished atop the Futures Tour money list, accumulating numerous top ten finishes and a win in the process. In 2006, she went the entire season without missing a cut. But what was perhaps most impressive was how quickly she established herself as the rookie to beat. In her very first LPGA event in February, she just missed a top ten. At her second tournament, the Fields Open, she led much of the weekend, only to lose a heartbreaking playoff to fellow Korean Meena Lee. It took a last minute run by Annika Sorenstam to stop Lee from winning her third event; again she finished second.

Seon Hwa did not contend at every tournament, but she did seem to put together a decent finish almost every time. If she wasn't in the top five, she was still in the top twenty. In some ways her results did not even show just how consistent she was. For instance, she put herself into contention at the year's first Major, playing in one of the final groups, but a last round collapse prevented her from claiming the title. She still finished in the top twenty. And she quickly recovered from that result by notching her third second place finish at the very next tournament, the Takefuji Classic.

It seemed only a matter of time before Seon Hwa claimed her first career win and cemented her lead in the Rookie race. After more top twenties at the Florida's Natural Charity Championship and the Ginn Clubs and Resorts, and an 11th place finish at the Sybase Classic, Seon Hwa had her chance. Locked in a pitched battle with several top players at the ShopRite Classic, including Annika Sorenstam, Lee kicked her game into another gear, making birdie after birdie to bury her competition and claim the title. She wound up winning by three shots after shooting a sizzling 8 under par 63. Jeong Jang, who had been one of the players trying to take the title, ran off to get some champagne after finishing her round, so as to soak her young friend when she finished her round. Lee, still only 20, was not old enough to drink legally, but that didn't stop JJ from giving her a champagne bath when she claimed her first LPGA victory.

Seon Hwa's season slowed down a bit after that, although she still notched a bunch more top twenties, a few top tens, and put herself into contention a few more times. She later admitted to this magazine that she had not planned her schedule as well as she could have, and was running out of gas and needed some rest. But she still had some highlights yet to come. She played well at the Kyoraku Cup, helping South Korea to take this annual tournament from Japan. But she really brought her A game to the Lexus Cup a few weeks later. The International team, captained by Sorenstam, had destroyed the Asian team in 2005. Asian captain Grace Park wanted revenge, and had recruited nine Korean golfers to be on her team in 2006. The match was a tough battle all weekend, with Lee contributing mightily. She won her first match teamed with Young Kim, then won again when she paired with Se Ri Pak on Saturday. But in the end, it all came down to her singles match against Julieta Granada, the player who had finished second to her in the Rookie of the Year standings. Some reporters had opined that Granada in fact deserved the award, because she had won the ADT Championship, the final event of the year. Lee put stop to that talk, hanging tough against Granada all day, then making a crucial birdie on the 16th hole to take a 2 up lead. When Lee made a two putt par on the 17th hole, with her entire team watching, she clinched the Cup for Asia. It was a sweet win.

But Seon Hwa Lee didn't just prove herself the best rookie of the year by beating Granada in this match. She had proved it all year long, and her great season allowed her to become the fifth Korean in the past nine years to claim that title, joining the august ranks of superstars like Se Ri Pak, Mi Hyun Kim, Hee-Won Han and Shi Hyun Ahn. Her achievement was without a doubt one of the best Korean golf stories of the year.