2003 Year in Review

July

Seoul Sisters Magazine attends both the US and Canadian Opens in person this month, and provides detailed reports from both. Alas, the one event a Sister wins in July is the Sybase, where Hee-Won captures her first career victory.

US Women's Open: Killer Snowman (July 3 - 6)
Seoul Sisters Magazine brought you all the action from Pumpkin Ridge, site of the most important event in women's golf, the US Women's Open. Se Ri Pak and Grace Park had to be two of the favorites coming in. But Se Ri had struggled with her driving uncharacteristically in the past month, and she also injured her wrist before the Open started (a story I broke by asking Se Ri about it at a news conference!). Se Ri had a pretty terrible first round, played well the next two rounds, then imploded with the single worst round of her LPGA career on Sunday to plunge to 50th place, her worst ever Major. Grace also struggled early, but rebounded to play the very best round of the day on Sunday, which allowed her to climb all the way to tenth place.

Surprisingly, the Korean with the best chance of winning the whole shebang was none other than Jeong Jang. Jang had a habit of coming to play in the Majors, and after four holes on Sunday she was only one shot out of the lead. Alas, on the par 3 5th she hit two balls into the water and took an 8 (a 'snowman'), and never really recovered, finishing three shots out of the playoff. Even if she had managed a bogey on that hole, she would have won. Such is fate.

Kudos also to Aree Song, the 17 year old amateur and half Korean who finished 5th. Wow! In fact, there were an incredible *22* Korean and Korean-American players in the field, including several even I had never heard of. This Seoul Sister phenomenon is truly sweeping over women's golf like nothing before it!

Grace at the Open
SeoulSisters.com photo

Se Ri during Friday's action
SeoulSisters.com photo

Se Ri on Sunday at the Canadian Open
SeoulSisters.com photo

BMO Canadian Women's Open: The Rains Came (July 10 - 13)
My second event in a row attending as reporter. Whew! The big news this week was that Annika Sorenstam had to drop out without even finishing her first round. Both Grace and Se Ri had a bad round in the first two days, which kept them just far enough back to make it difficult to contend. But on Saturday they both got close enough to Beth Daniel and Juli Inkster to at least make it interesting. On Sunday, Grace really made a move.

The scene was incredible. I followed Se Ri for the most part, and the sheer number of people (almost all Asian) following not only Se Ri but Grace and Peanut as well, was staggering. And this despite horrendous weather which produced torrential rains both weekend days. Grace was 5 under on the front nine on Sunday, but still was not able to make the key shots when she needed to on the back. Still, she finished third, edging Se Ri yet again, who finished fifth. Thanks to her tenth at the Open, Grace was now well ahead of Se Ri on the money list.

Meanwhile, Jeong Jang notched her second consecutive 6th place finish. Well done!

Sybase Big Apple Classic: Revenge, Part I (July 17 - 20)
In 2002, Hee-Won Han had her best chance to win an event at this popular LPGA stop near New York City. But she missed a 6 foot birdie putt on the last hole, then lost in a playoff to Gloria Park. It was a loss she took hard, as she revealed later. In 2003, she played with added confidence on this course. In fact, with just a few holes to go on Saturday, she had a four shot lead and looked good for an easy win. But LPGA veteran Meg Mallon went on a tear, birdieing the last four holes and taking a one shot lead. Hee-Won hung together well enough to birdie the par 5 18th and move into a tie for the lead going into the final day.

On Sunday, Mallon started very shakily, enabling Han to get a big lead again. But just as Hee-Won looked good to breeze to her first win, she started to make nervous mistakes. She bogeyed both 13 and 14. On 13, she hit a really shaky chip, then walked quickly to her ball and hit another one. It looked like she was about to unravel. But then she vowed not to make another mistake, and didn't. Mallon, meanwhile, came perilously close to making long birdie putts on 16 and 17, and an eagle on 18. Once Mallon missed there, Hee-Won dropped a short birdie (this time she didn't miss!), and her first trophy on the LPGA was hers!

Hee-Won wears the Red Jacket as the
champion of the Sybase Big Apple Classic

No pics from the Evian, so here's Hee-Won from
the Farr later in the summer

Evian Masters: Mais Oui, Hee-Won (July 23 - 26)
Hee-Won was on a tear, and had another great event in France, at the second most lucrative tournament on the LPGA schedule. Just a few shots out of the lead going into Sunday, she unfortunately was dominated by another incredible Juli Inkster final round. Still, she finished solo second, a performance worth $200,000 (the biggest paycheck of her career). Grace didn't play that well, but a fantastic final round (8 under through 17 holes) meant she had a chance at a new course record. Then she hit her second into a water trap and double bogeyed the par 5 18th, ending up with a 66. Oh well! Se Ri, with a 6th place finish, and Soo Yun Kang, with a 9th, rounded out the Korean presence in the top ten.

Meanwhile...

Over on the Futures Tour, Soo Young Moon fully recovered from her car accident and won a second tournament, the M & T Bank Loretto Futures Golf Classic in Syracuse, New York. This time she lucked out. She was four shots out of the lead when a rain delay hit. When they got back on the course, the leader, Stacy Prammanasudh, found it tough to get out of a now muddy bunker. Eventually, Soo Young took the lead with a birdie on 16 while Stacy bogeyed. The next week, Soo Young made another charge at the leader, this time Candy Hannemann, who barely hung in for the win, giving Moon a second place finish. A great two weeks for Moon!

As if that weren't enough, the US Girl's Championship, the most prestigious event in Girl's golf, turned into a showcase for two great Korean-born players. In-Bee Park, the defending champion, took a 5 up lead over a stunned Sukjin Lee-Wuesthoff in the final match, but Lee-Wuesthoff rallied to eventually capture the crown. Sukjin Lee was born in Korea, but moved to America to live with an aunt and play golf. Eventually the aunt, who was married to an American, adopted the girl, but her father was there to witness her shining moment, and there were tears all around.

Sukjin Lee-Wueshoff