SeoulSisters Awards

Cinderella of the Year
Amy Yang, ANZ Masters
This award was one of the toughest choices of the year. Both this win and Jin Joo Hong's win at the Kolon-Hana Bank Championship (see below) were magical, life changing events. But in the end I went for the high school student who pulled off one of the most unlikely victories in years at one of Australia's most important pro golf events.

Amy Yang was invited to play in the ANZ Masters thanks to her superlative amateur record in Australia. She and her family had moved to the Gold Coast in Australia 18 months previous; like many Korean golfers, she was looking for a place where she could hone her talent without paying a fortune for greens fees. In just the short time she had been in Australia, she had become one of the top amateur golfers in her adopted homeland. The ANZ Masters was just her second professional event; she was sixteen years old.

Granted, there probably was not a lot of pressure on her, at least at first. She also got the pleasure of playing in her hometown, literally steps away from her high school. Many of her classmates came out to cheer her on. With a top field that included Australian superstar Karrie Webb, Japanese sensation Ai Miyazato, and Korean stars like Hee Young Park and Bo Bae Song, there was not much reason to believe Yang would be a factor. This was probably going to amount to a good learning experience for her and nothing more.

She started with a solid 69, which put her into contention, but in the second round really kicked it into another gear. On that day she shot a 6 under par 66 to take a one shot lead. If there were no pressure on her before, she would certainly be feeling it now. Webb and Hee Young Park were still within range, but Miyazato and Song were out of it.

On Saturday, Yang extended her lead at one point to 4 strokes, but made a few mistakes late to fall backwards. Her biggest challenger at the time looked to be French star Ludivine Kreutz, who made up 9 shots on Yang in just six holes and ended the day only one shot back.

On Sunday, Kreutz soon fell back, but American amateur (and Korean American) Tiffany Joh was right there applying pressure. Also hot on Amy's heels was LPGA journeyman player Catherine Cartwright. Amy managed to maintain her lead on the front nine, but a double bogey on the tenth hole dropped her out of the lead for the first time in days. Fortunately, she made a birdie right after that to climb back into a tie with Cartwright. Eventually, she carved out a two shot lead, and hit a great drive on 18. It looked like she had it in the bag, but Cartwright made birdie on 18, while Amy hit a terrible approach and made bogey. Joh then just barely missed a par save which would have tied her with Yang and Cartwright, and so a playoff was set between those two.

Amy hit her approach twenty feet from the flag, while Cartwright was considerably further away. She left her birdie try very short, leaving herself a dicey par save. But Yang made that academic by sinking her birdie putt to win the event. Amy Yang thus became the youngest person, male or female, to ever win an event on a major world golf tour (the ANZ Masters is part of the Ladies European Tour). It also gave her the right to play in events on that tour for several years, although she was too young to become a member at that time. She used her pseudo-exemption on tour to play in the Women's British Open and the Evian Masters. After that, she turned professional, and the LET agreed to give her a special exemption to join the tour despite her young age, provided she stays in school until graduation.

Overnight she became one of the most famous female golfers in Australia, she earned the right to play LET events, and eventually was given a full exemption to play on that tour for three years despite her age. That exemption has already paid: she finished fourth in her first event as an LET pro, earning $40,000 Australian dollars in the process. Amy Yang's amazing, record breaking win was a true Cinderella story.

Honorable Mention:
Jin Joo Hong, Kolon-Hana Bank Championship
Jin Joo Hong had already established herself as a good player on the KLPGA tour by winning a tournament by seven strokes. She was thus invited to play at the Kolon-Hana Bank Championship, the LPGA's event in Korea. As had happened two of the previous three years, a KLPGA player won the event, and this time it was Hong. Like in those years, Hong has earned membership on the LPGA for the next two years. She won more money with that win than ever before in her career, and has also been signed to a three year sponsorship by SK Telecom. It was a great Cinderella story, and narrowly lost out for this award to Amy Yang's Cinderella tale.

Teen Power! Top Teen performance of the Year
Kimberly Kim wins the US Women's Amateur
There have been so many great performances by golfers 19 and under that, for the sake of sanity, I'm limiting this category to those under the age of 18. Even so, there are at least a half a dozen truly exceptional achievements to choose from. In the end, though, one feat stood out above all the others. That was when Kimberly Kim, all of fourteen years old, became the youngest golfer in history to win a USGA national championship.

Kim Squared, as she is known, had already had a great summer in 2006 by the time the US Women's Amateur started in August. She had finished as the runner up at the US Amateur Pub Links, then later made the cut at the US Women's Open. At the US Women's Amateur, Kim Kim worked her way through the tournament, winning match after match while the other more highly touted players fell by the wayside. When she won the semifinal match against a golfer only a year older than she, she became the youngest person, male or female, to ever make it that far at a US Amateur.

Her 36 hole finals match against Katharina Schallenberg was one of the greatest amateur matches in recent memory. At first, though, the match looked like it was going to be a runaway win for the German amateur. She quickly got out to a 5 up lead, and Kim was struggling just to have some kind of chance in the afternoon session. But just when it looked like she was a goner, she went on a roll, winning three straight holes to end the morning session 2 down.
In the afternoon, she caught all the way up by the turn. She then won 12 and 13 to move to two up, but lost 14 to fall back to one up. The final four holes turned into a titanic battle, as both players hit one fantastic shot after another. Schallenberg put tons of pressure on Kim, but Kim showed incredible grit to hang in there. On the 17th hole, Kim put her drive into a fairway bunker. Schallenberg's approach ended up only about ten feet from the hole, and in good position for a birdie. But Kim Squared did not waver: she hit a phenomenal shot from the sand to within about 12 feet, then drained the birdie as though ice water flowed through her veins. Faced with a testy putt to even stay in the match, Schallenberg responded with her own birdie to extend the match to the 36th hole.

Kim got close to the green in two, while Schallenberg struggled, taking three shots to get to the fringe. It looked like Kim was in the driver's seat, but then Schallenberg putted the ball in from the fringe for birdie. Kim was stuck with a five foot birdie must make to prevent the match from going to a playoff. And she made it to win the top prize and become the youngest winner of the event in its 106 year history. Winning the event under any circumstance would have been an awesome achievement; but to do it by making a 5 shot comeback, then holding off a player with back to back birdies, made this victory one of the truly great ones in history. Add into it the fact that the winner was a 14 year old, and it goes right off the charts.

Honorable Mentions:
Amy Yang, 16, wins the ANZ Masters
Jenny Shin, 13, wins the US Girls Junior
Michelle Wie, 16, finishes top five in three Majors
Song Hee Kim wins four times as a 17 year old
See what I mean? There was a large list of impressive achievements by teen Koreans in 2006!

Heartbreaker of the Year
Sarah Lee and Aree Song lose at the Safeway International
Korean success was so rampant in 2006 that it was hard to choose "the one that got away", but if there was a tournament that looked all but locked up for a Korean golfer, only to slip away, it was probably the Safeway International. This event is one of the most popular non-Major events on the schedule, and usually attracts most of the top players on tour each year. So it was quite a surprise to see, after the first day, that a pair of obscure Korean players were on top of the leaderboard. Sarah Lee has had success on tour, including multiple second place finishes, but the last few years have not been good for her. In Phoenix, however, playing in an early group, she shot a 7 under par 65 to seize the lead. It was a lead she held onto until nearly the end of the day, when a player in one of the final groups shot a 64 to pass her. That player was Aree Song. Like Lee, Aree had been on her way to a fantastic career a few years ago, only to see her progress stop dead. The last couple of seasons have seen her floundering, trying to get back to her former level of play. This 64 was one of her few great rounds of golf since her heyday back in mid 2004.

Lee and Song continued to stay atop the leaderboard in round two. Song played earlier and finished the day at 11 under par total after a 3 under par 69. Lee, playing near the end of the day, buried an eagle on her final hole of the day to move to 13 under and the lead.

On Saturday, the two players were paired together in the final round, and held the lead all day. Lee soon carved out a three shot lead over Song, while most of the other contenders fell by the wayside. It really looked like a one-two Korean finish was coming, and that Lee might finally get her first LPGA win. But on the final hole, Lee only made par while Song made eagle, and Lee's lead was now only one shot with one day to go.

On Sunday, the conditions were tough, and several players made a run at the title. Chief among them was Juli Inkster, the American Hall of Famer. After a birdie on 14, she moved to 15 under, one ahead of Aree and one behind Lee. But the crucial moment came when Lee and Song played this hole minutes later. This was a short par 4 that usually gave players a good birdie chance; a long player like Lee even had a chance to drive the green. But on this day, Sarah hit her drive into the rocks, Song into a bunker. Lee got her second out of the rocks, but it plugged in a greenside bunker. Aree's second shot also landed in a bunker, wedged under the lip for just about an impossible third shot. She was only just able to get the ball out of the sand, but into deep rough. Lee hit a terrible shot herself, and the ball skidded over the green into some more rocks. By the time they were done with this hole, both had made double bogey. Sarah Lee fell out of the lead for the first time since Friday, and Song effectively was out of the tournament entirely.

Sarah still had her chances, though. Inkster made bogey on 16 and fell into a tie for the lead with Sarah. But after a tough par save on 16, Lee messed up on 17 and fell out of the lead. Inkster then birdied 18, forcing Lee to make eagle there to get into a playoff. She couldn't do it. So after leading the tournament most of the week, Sarah Lee came up with yet another runner up finish in her career. Aree Song had also had had her chances, but wound up third.

Honorable Mentions:
Christina Kim finished second to last, Tournament of Champions
Nothing is more disappointing than returning to defend a championship and missing the cut. Except possibly returning to defend a championship at a tournament without a cut, and playing miserably for four days. That is what happened to Christina Kim at the Tournament of Champions. She ended the week with a 10 over par 82 on Sunday; only the horrendous 83-83 weekend by her old friend Jennifer Rosales prevented her from finishing dead last.

Jeong Jang misses tying putt on final hole, Safeway Classic
JJ tenaciously fought to catch Pat Hurst the entire final round of the Safeway Classic. She finally moved herself within one shot, but was not able to make that final birdie to completely catch her. On the final hole, she hit a wonderful approach shot to about 6 feet, leaving herself a very makeable birdie try. But the putt curved off line at the last possible instance, just missing going into the hole. She tapped in and finished second for the third time at this event.