Hawaiian Punch

Traditionally, the LPGA had some of its earliest events each season in Hawaii, the beautiful island state well known as a golfing destination. But a few years ago, all the sponsorship dried up for those events, and for the first time in ages, the LPGA did not have an event there. Then last year, SBS stepped in. The Korean broadcasting company shows LPGA events in South Korea on its Golf Channel (and occasionally on its main network as well). They have had great ratings for these broadcasts thanks to the plethora of Korean stars now playing on the American tour, and so decided that sponsoring their own event would be a good idea. Thus was born the SBS Open, and because it was scheduled to take place in February, not the best time of the year for golf in Korea, Hawaii became a logical choice for the venue. They arranged to stage the event at the prestigious Turtle Bay Resort on the north side of the island, and the event debuted nicely when Jennifer Rosales beat home island teen sensation Michelle Wie to the title.

Meanwhile, Japanese companies have also had a long tradition of supporting women's golf in the States. Among the companies who sponsor events currently on tour are Mizuno and Takefuji. Fields decided to join them, largely because of the anticipated arrival in America of Ai Miyazato, a young Japanese golfer who has risen in just two short years to become one of the most popular athletes in all of Japan. Given a chance to stage the event in February as well, they decided that Hawaii would be an excellent location, not only because of the weather and popularity of the State as a tourist destination for Japanese, but also because they might just be able to get Wie to show up there as well. This event was set to take place the week following the SBS Open at the Ko'Olina golf course, a beautiful resort on the south side of Oahu, roughly 45 minutes away from where the SBS took place. Two weeks in Hawaii - not a bad way at all for the ladies to start their year!

As it turned out, Wie chose to attend only one of the two events, the Fields Open, which took place at one of her favorite courses on the island, one she had played innumerable times over the years. But the other event was hardly lacking in headliners: Morgan Pressel, the highly touted rookie who had finished second to Birdie Kim at the previous year's US Women's Open, was to make her LPGA debut at the SBS Open, and so was Miyazato. The buzz for both events was high indeed.

Lost in the shuffle, as often seems to happen, was the ever larger contingent of Korean women golfers on tour. In 2006, there are seven more rookies set to join the large cast of Koreans playing the LPGA. Three of those rookies had impressive credentials, yet garnered nary a mention from the press in the days leading up to the first rounds of the year. There was Seon-Hwa Lee, who had won the Futures Tour money list title in 2005, and Kyeong Bae, a superstar who had finished third on that same money list while leading the KLPGA money list simultaneously. Lastly, there was Jee Young Lee, who had merely managed to win an LPGA event in Korea to qualify for the tour, a feat no other rookie in 2006 could claim. All three of these women would impress in their first two official LPGA events, and one of them would go on to firmly establish herself as a force to be reckoned with on tour.

But though the Korean rookies were most certainly great these first two weeks, it was the sophomores that made the most noise. Three second year players would battle it out for titles. These players had all languished to various degrees in 2005, overshadowed by American super rookie Paula Creamer. One of them, Meena Lee, had herself one hell of a rookie year, earning nearly $900,000 on tour and finishing 7th on the money list. A second rookie, Joo Mi Kim, had not finished nearly so well, but had shown flashes of brilliance throughout the year, culminating in two top five finishes and a 50th place finish on the money list. And the third, Sung Ah Yim, had come within a medium length birdie putt of capturing her own inaugural win in '05. All three were eager to improve in their second years on tour, and wasted little time in doing so.

As the SBS Open started on Thursday, February 16th, however, it was yet another Korean who set the early pace. Grace Park was not obscure by any means; she had come into the LPGA in 2000 as one of the most highly touted rookies in years. It took her a little while to find her legs, but when she did, she became a consistent winner on tour. By 2003, she was 3rd in the world; the next year, she had climbed to 2nd. But in 2005, injuries had dealt her efforts a severe blow. While Creamer and other young guns stole the spotlight, Grace struggled with back problems so crippling that they made it hard for her to even practice. Thus, even when her back was behaving, she was so out of practice that she found it difficult to compete. By the time her back started to heal late in the season, it was too late for her to get completely back to her old form, although she had the occasional tournament where flashes of the old brilliance shone through (such as the Samsung World Championship, which she led for the first two rounds).

But during the off season, Grace changed coaches, and her new training regimen allowed her to deal with her back problems adequately. She came into the year eager to prove that 2005 had been an anomaly, and that she was ready to contend at the highest levels again. She wasted little time proving it. In the very first round of the year, she shot a 6 under par 66 to claim a share of the first round lead. The round was far from perfect. She struggled to keep her drives straight, and didn't hit a lot of greens. But she made up for it with gumption and mastery of her putting. Afterwards, she was clearly happy to talk to the reporter and hopeful that she could keep it up for two more rounds.

Though no other Korean equaled Grace on this day, other Korean golfers got their years started right. One of them was second year star Meena Lee, who found herself with a great birdie chance on the final hole to shoot a 67. She missed that one, but a 68 to start the year was not bad at all. Second year player Yim finished at 3 under, while another sophomore, Joo Mi Kim, managed a 70.

One rookie also got out to a great start: Kyeong Bae. A number of players were unable to finish their rounds on day one due to weather conditions, and Bae was one of them. But by the time she finished that first round of her LPGA career early Friday morning, she had carded a 5 under par 67 to put herself just one shot out of Grace's lead. Her main Korean rookie competition had not done so well. Both Jee Young Lee and Sun Young Yoo had carded 3 over par 75s. Seon-Hwa Lee, who had the ignominious fate of having her name misspelled and mispronounced as 'Swon-Hwa' on the golf telecast, managed a respectable 1 over par 73. Miyazato and Pressel had both carded 70s.

On Friday (both Hawaii events were three day affairs scheduled to end on Saturday, which would be Sunday afternoon in Asia, perfect for their television viewing schedules), the players who had not finished their rounds the previous day got the job done, then the second round started. Grace Park had been ragged on day one, but her will power and great putting had seen her through. Alas, she remained ragged on this day, but her putting was no longer able to rise to the challenge. Thus, she faded with a 2 over par 74. But though it knocked her out of contention, she still managed a respectable 13th place finish for the week. Not what she was expecting, perhaps, but the year has a long way to go, and no doubt a healthy Grace Park will be back to fight another day.

On this day, the second year Koreans really threw the gauntlet down. Particularly impressive was Joo Mi Kim. Joo Mi had been a superstar in Korea. As a 19 year old rookie, she had won both the Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year awards in 2003, beating, among others, Meena Lee. In 2004, she finished second on the Player of the Year list, losing to a young teen phenom named Bo Bae Song (Song was also in the field at the 2006 SBS Open, but did not have a very good tournament, finishing tied for 59th). Joo Mi came over to America at the end of 2004 and easily qualified for the LPGA, finishing 12th at Q School. But her rookie season of 2005, while decent, did not live up to the lofty expectations generated by her performance in Korea. She twice managed top five finishes, and even gave herself an outside chance of winning an event when she finished 5th at the Sybase Classic outside New York City. During the off season, she started to work with a coach named Mike Bender, who helped her to tighten and revamp her swing. The move paid dividends, and it was a much more confident and solid Joo Mi who showed up ready to play at this first event of 2006. She wound up shooting a 7 under par 65, setting the tournament record in the process (Lorena Ochoa would also shoot a 65 later that day). Her 9 under par total would insure that she would be in the final group on Saturday, as she would be tied for the lead going into the last round.