LPGA Q-School

There is arguably no tournament all year more grueling than LPGA Q-School. The Majors, the big money events, even the Solheim Cup, all have their unique pressures, but only at Q-School are you playing for your destiny. Simply put, have a good week, and you have a job for the next year. Screw up, and you'll be looking for other employment. It's the ultimate reality show.

This year, a number of Korean and Korean American ladies went to Q-School in order to try to either get a card on tour or else improve their status from nonexempt to exempt. Among the players to look out for were:

Sunny Lee - a star in Korea with multiple wins on the KLPGA tour, Sunny has had almost no success here in the States. A glamorous presence who was once called the Anna Kournikova of golf, Sunny (born Sun Hee) had nonexempt status in 2004, but was hoping to upgrade to exempt.

Sunny during happier times:
Sunny Lee points at her name on the
board during Q-School, 2001

Sunny Oh turned pro this year and was making
her first attempt to qualify for the LPGA

Il Mi Chung in Korea

Sunny Oh - Another Sunny player with a bright future, Sunny Oh (born Sun Hyo) had played her college golf at UNLV Las Vegas, where she was the team star. She turned pro last summer and joined the Futures tour, but did not have a lot of success. She had no status on the LPGA, but was hoping to get some.

Minny Yeo - A favorite of the editor of this site (check out her interview with SeoulSisters.com if you want!), Minny unfortunately failed to make any kind of card in 2003's Q-School. But true to her word that she would keep trying, she came to 2004's qualifying school intent on rectifying that problem.

Naree Song - The twin sister of 2004 LPGA Rookie of the Year runner up Aree Song, Naree had decided to go to college when Aree turned pro. But after one semester, she decided that it was not for her, and turned pro herself. She won one tournament on the Futures Tour this year, but did not play well enough to get her LPGA card through that route. Thus, she hoped to win her exemption right here in Q-School.

Il Mi Chung - another top player in Korea who has had very little success in the States, Chung was hoping to get another exempt card.

Joo Mi Kim - A budding superstar on the KLPGA tour, Kim led the league in scoring average the past few years. Her 2004 scoring average of 70.5 would have been good enough to put her in the top ten on the LPGA tour (granted the courses in Korea may not be comparable). With an exempt card, she would be a definite threat for Rookie of the Year.

Mi Na Lee - Another KLPGA star (she was the top player on tour in 2002), Lee has not had a great couple of years recently. Could she turn that around in one week in Florida? She was now going by the name 'Mee Lee', by the way.

The first round of the tournament was on December 1st. It was to be a five round marathon, with a cut coming for the top 70 and ties after four rounds. At stake were 30 exempt cards for the 2005 LPGA tour, and 35 more nonexempt cards. For a lot of players, missing the cut meant missing getting any status on tour next year. It was a big moment in their careers.

After the first round, the player who sat on top of the standings was none other than Naree Song. She managed a 5 under par 67 to tie for the lead with her playing partner for the day, Emily Bastel. Aree went out strong, with birdies on one, five, six and seven. She had a bogey on 12, but made two more birdies on 13 and 14 to finish her day well. "One bogey, six birdies, it was a good day," she said. "I putted really well today. I made some long putts, short putts and medium putts. It was a good score." Some other players did not do so well. Sunny Oh, Jenny Park-Choi, Sunny Lee, Minny Yeo and Birdie Kim all made +2, a decent start. But Il Mi Chung had a +5 77 that left her well back in the pack, and Joo Mi Kim's 75 left her in 80th place.

After one round, three Koreans were within the exempt card range: Naree, Hana Kim in 23rd, and Young Jo in 11th.

The second round produced a new leader, but once again, it was a Korean. This time, though, it was a very surprising one: Young Jo, who had made 8 top tens on the Futures tour in 2004, but only finished 11th on the money list, produced a 6 under par 66 to vault to the top of the leader board at 7 under par, with a one shot lead over two players. "My putting was really good today, and I did not miss any fairways," she said.

Naree, meanwhile, struggled with a 4 over par 76 that knocked her back into 20th place, still within the range of exempt players, however. The other player who made noise on this day was Korean-American Hana Kim, who shot a 68 and moved into 7th place. These three were still the only Koreans in the exempt spots.

Meanwhile, several other players improved their positions as well. Minny Yeo shot a 70 to move up to 31st place, while Il Mi Chung shot a 69 and vaulted back into the nonexempt range. Sunny Lee and Joo Mi Kim both shot 71s to move up, and Mee Lee managed a 70 to end up in 61st.

But Sunny Oh was still not having much success. She followed her 74 with another one and still sat outside the range of players who would get cards. She had some work yet to do.

On Friday, day 3, Young Jo maintained her position atop the leader board with a 2 under par 70. Il Mi Chung began to get comfortable, shooting another 69 to move, for the first time, into the exempt category. She was at the time tied for 17th. Minny Yeo also was tied for 17th after shooting a 71, but Hana Kim struggled to a 76 that knocked her back down to a tie for 30th.

Naree Song had a second mediocre round that knocked her out of the top 30, while Joo Mi Kim held steady in 42nd place. Both Sunnys, meanwhile, were hanging in at the bottom of the nonexempt list. With one round to go before the cut, it was a precarious place to be.

So at the end of three rounds, there were now 7 Korean players within the magic top 30 group, including Minny and Il Mi Chung.

Naree Song took the first round lead

But Young Jo took charge in rounds 2 and 3

Sunny Oh had more success at this year's
Takefuji Classic, where she was a
sponsor's exemption

Sunny Lee missed the cut and is out of the tour
for the moment

Yay! Minny Yeo got a nonexempt card!
She'll be back on tour in 2005
(SeoulSisters.com Exclusive Photo)

Mi Na Lee, now known as Mee Lee,
will get her first shot at the LPGA
next year

Don't look so down, Joo Mi Kim!
You got an exempt card on the LPGA!
(Actually, this photo is from the
CJ 9 Bridges Classic)

In round 4, Young Jo had her only bad round of the week. Her three over par 75 knocked her out of the top spot, but though she was now three shots behind amateur teenager Paula Creamer, she was still tied for second and looked really good to get her exempt card.

Some other players did not have so much luck. Sunny Lee suffered a major meltdown in her fourth round. After three rounds, she found herself just inside the line for a nonexempt card. She knew she needed to be consistent on Saturday to make the cut and give herself a chance for the tour, but she was anything but. Her fourth round 79 plunged her off the leaderboard and right out of league; she will have no standing on tour in 2005. Hopefully she will try again to make the tour next year.

The other Sunny also suffered a similar blow. Like Sunny Lee, Sunny Oh was within the nonexempt range after three rounds, but shot a horrible round on Saturday that knocked her right out of Q-School. She will probably play the Futures Tour in 2005, where hopefully she will have more luck than she did last year and will gain her card for 2006.

Among the other Korean players who will not be in the league in 2005 are Soo Young Kim, who never really got it going all week, Seon Hwa Lee, a promising young player who for a while was among the top players on the Futures Tour this year, and Jenny Park-Choi.

But other players did well. Joo Mi Kim made another move with a 3 under par 69 that placed her in the top twenty for the first time all week. Il Mi Chung shot her third good round in a row and moved into a tie for 6th. Also tied at that spot was the Korean American, Hana Kim. Even Minny Yeo had moved herself into the top thirty and had a real shot at an exempt card. All told, nine Koreans were now in the top 30, with three more, including Naree Song, just out of it.

The final day of Q-School arrived at last. For the ladies, it was the time when the nerves became their most intense. In the end, Creamer won the medal, but Young Jo, the surprise of Q-School, finished tied for second and earned a nice $5,500 check. Even the Korean media had no idea who she was, but like Seol-An Jeon last year, she won a golden ticket and will have a chance to prove herself in 2005. Two more little known Korean players finished 7th and 10th: Sae Hee Son and Sung Ah Yim. Joo Mi Kim and Il Mi Chung also earned their exempt cards with a tie for 12th. Watch out for Kim in next year's Rookie of the Year race! Tied with them was yet another Korean, the amazingly named Birdie Kim. It turns out that this player is actually named Ju Yun Kim; I believe this might be Ju Kim, who was a Rookie in 2004, but I'm not sure. Birdie took that name at the suggestion of her coach, David Leadbetter. It certainly will make her easy to remember. Hana Kim also made her exempt card. Afterwards, she spoke briefly with the Golf Channel, musing that she had heard that winners on tour get a Rolex watch, and that she really wanted one of those. 'I guess that makes me sound shallow' she laughed.

Amazingly, two more Koreans got exempt cards by winning spots in a playoff. One was Mee Lee, the renamed Mi Na Lee. She, too, could make some noise next year, if her past success is any indication. The other was Ji Yeon 'Jinnie' Lee, who moved up from nonexempt to exempt status for 2005.

An incredible nine Korean players with exempt cards in 2005. To put this in perspective, nearly one third of all the exempt cards earned at Q-School were earned by Korean or Korean American players. That will raise the number of *exempt* Koreans on tour to 26 or so. That does not include several more who are nonexempt. Among those are Minny Yeo, who was in position to get an exempt card but stumbled on her final day, but still hung on to get a card. Thus she rejoins the tour after a one year absence. Also gaining nonexempt status and joining her twin sister will be Naree Song. And the final player is Kathy Choi-Rogers. Choi-Rogers is a feel good story: a 30 year old player who has suffered from at times crippling bouts of rheumatoid arthritis, she nonetheless has fought hard to make it as a golfer. She'll get her chance next year on tour.

Good luck to all the ladies who will be carrying the Korean banner in 2005. After five hard fought days of golf, they all earned this chance!