2006 Safeway Classic

The Safeway Classic is the LPGA's sole stop every year in the Pacific Northwest. Played for the past 35 years in Portland, Oregon, the event is one of the longest continually played tournaments on the LPGA tour. It has a great history of top stars winning it; the tricky but fair course at Columbia Edgewater Country Club seems to bring the cream to the top. For instance, in 1999, Juli Inkster won the Safeway to qualify for the Hall of Fame. In the last few years, two groups have dominated the event: the Korean golfers, and Annika Sorenstam. But one Korean golfer has had a lot of success at the event without ever taking home the top prize. That golfer is Jeong Jang, the Little Giant, who has in the last few years become one of the top golfers in the world.

In 1999, Inkster was the winner, but the second place golfer was Grace Park. Grace was not even a member of the LPGA at that time; she had been granted a sponsor's exemption to play. Little did anyone suspect that it was the start of a tradition for the Korean golfers to excel at Columbia Edgewater. The course reminded the Koreans of the types of courses they played back home: not overly long, tight fairways, with a premium on keeping the ball in play. In 2000, the title would come down to two Korean players, Mi Hyun Kim and Jeong Jang, and a playoff. Kim had looked like she had it all wrapped up, but struggled mightily on the notorious 17th hole. She wound up with a triple bogey, and dropped one shot behind JJ with one hole to play. But Kimmie made a clutch birdie on the final hole, then went on to beat Jang in the aforementioned playoff. It was JJ's first second place finish at the event, but not her last.

The event was canceled in 2001 due to 9/11, and for the next two years after that, Annika Sorenstam ruled the roost. But while her reign went on, the number of Koreans on tour greatly increased. So in 2004, a Korean finally stepped up and seized the trophy away from her. That Korean was multiple tour winner Hee-Won Han, winning in a playoff over Lorie Kane after making a birdie on the final hole, much like Kimmie had in 2000. It was her first win since marrying, and it showed that she would still be a top force on tour despite becoming the first of the young Korean stars to take that step.

Korean golfers like Kimmie, JJ, Hee-Won, Se Ri Pak and Grace Park have had success at Safeway, but nothing prepared fans for the deluge of Korean talent that hit the event in 2005. Right from the first round, the Korean golfers seized control and didn't let go. After Friday's action, Soo-Yun Kang and Sung Ah Yim were both tied for the lead at 8 under, with Hee-Won Han, the defending champion, close behind. On Saturday, Gloria Park and Jeong Jang also got into the fray, and Aree Song was not too far behind. As the final round developed, only one golfer seemed positioned to possibly stop Kang from getting her first ever LPGA win. That golfer was Jeong Jang, newly crowned champion at the Women's British Open. But Kangsy proved too solid, making several key birdies early, and avoiding disaster on the par 5 12th hole when her errant drive bounced off a tree back into play. Kang would go on to collect the win, while JJ would get her second career runner up finish at the event. Koreans would also collect third, fourth, and a tie for fifth, an unprecedented sweep of the top five spots at an LPGA event for the young Korean stars. But as happy as JJ was to collect another top two, when she came to the 2006 event, she was hoping that it would be she who won the top prize at last in Portland.

Every year, this reporter travels to the Safeway Classic to cover the tournament, and this year was no exception. One thing was different, though. I am now also writing for a new magazine called Asian American Golf Magazine. My duties for them included interviewing three Korean/Korean American LPGA players: rookie sensation Seon Hwa Lee, up and coming Korean American player Hana Kim, and genuine superstar, and two time Safeway runner up, Jeong Jang. These articles, and some accompanying photos, will first appear in Asian American Golf Magazine over the coming months; but eventually the complete interviews, and lots of exclusive photos, will appear here; look for them in a few issues!

My first day at the course was Wednesday. I got there in the afternoon, thanks to terrible traffic on the trip from Seattle, and noticed one big change: they had moved the media tent. When I covered this tournament a few years ago, the media was squeezed into this small, dark building that looked and felt like a bunker (the military kind, not the golf kind). This year they put the media in a large tent right next to the driving range (and, not coincidentally I'm sure, next to the 19th hole beer tent!). The increased media presence, and thus the need for the big tent, was largely due to the enormous contingent of Japanese reporters covering rookie sensation Ai Miyazato. Shortly after I arrived, I spied her surrounded by about 8 reporters as she took a brief break from her practice on the driving range.

On this day, I had my interview with Seon Hwa Lee, who showed up ten minutes early. It was the first time I had ever seen the super talented rookie, and she proved to be a delightful person to talk to. On TV, she comes across as very serious, but in person, she is very laid back and quick to laugh. Her English is also quite good for someone who is still learning. It turned out that we didn't need an interpreter at all for our fifteen minute talk.

After the Seon Hwa interview, I hung around for a little longer, than left to get situated at my hotel. The next day, the final day before the tournament started, I saw a bunch of the Sisters play, did two interviews, and even met a couple of fans of SeoulSisters.com here and there.

In my first few hours at the course I followed Joo Mi Kim, then Meena Lee, then defending champion Soo Yun Kang, as they all played their pro-ams. The person I was most interested in watching was Kangsy. In her press conference on Wednesday, she had said that she was feeling totally ready to defend her title. I watched her on three holes. On hole 1, she dunked a twenty foot birdie putt. I have pics of her getting down on her hands and knees to read the putt for the amateurs (they all missed anyway); that's dedication to your pro-am! On the par 3 2nd, she hit an iron to about 15 feet. This really big guy in her pro am made the putt (he must have been 7 feet tall), and she did this high five stretching on her tip toes and laughing. She also said 'You on fire!', which was adorable. On the third hole, they used the same guy's drive, and she said 'Dave's on fire!' again, which cracked up her entire group. She hit the approach there to 4 feet. When she got to the hole, she asked loudly, 'Who wants to make?' The first guy stepped up, but missed the short birdie putt. Soo-Yun dropped her putter in mock indignation. The next guy made it, though, provoking more high fives. Kangsy definitely gives her pro am partners a fun time!

Then I went back to the press tent. Suddenly, I saw Hana Kim walk by, and approached her for our interview. After the usual awkwardness to begin things, she warmed up, and it became a really wonderful talk. She's not only a very attractive young lady, she's also whip smart. She was originally in school to be a lawyer, but decided she wanted to give professional golf a try. She really seems to have a good head on her shoulders, and gave me some very thoughtful and interesting answers to my questions.

JJ was practicing on the hidden chipping green when I approached her, so I watched Kimmie tee off on her pro am, then returned to the press tent. JJ eventually got there, and we had a great interview. She, too, is really well spoken in English. I don't think she ever had trouble understanding a question. She told me all about the stuff her dad writes when he follows her (basically, he keeps voluminous stats on every aspect of her game, and they analyze those stats to determine how she can improve). She said she loves team golf, because she feels it is like a big party. That's why she so often plays in events like the Lexus Cup, the Pinx Cup, and the Women's World Cup of Golf. The biggest surprise in our interview was when she told me that she was originally going to become a golf pro at a driving range, not a touring pro, because she believed she was too small to ever make it out on tour! She only changed her mind when she saw US Women's Open winner Alison Nicholas play in Korea. Nicholas is as small as JJ is. JJ felt that if Nicholas could be successful, so could she; and the rest is history!

JJ also told me how comfortable she was playing this course, and how much she wanted to improve on her second place finish of 2005 and 2000. Perhaps this would finally be her year!

The rest of the day, I followed Sun Young Yoo, Mi Hyun Kim, Ji Yeon Lee, and Gloria Park as they played their pro ams. Seon Hwa Lee came out to putt on the practice green. I almost didn't recognize her. She was wearing a sky blue top with yellow fringe and a cute patterned yellow and blue mini skirt. She looked very trendy; I thought she was Kyeong Bae for a minute (another young golfer sponsored by CJ), because I don't ever recall seeing Ms. Lee wear a skirt before.

On Friday morning, the first day of competition, I got to the course around 8:15, just in time to see JJ tee off on hole #10. The weather was fantastic in the morning: mid-70s, not a cloud in the sky, gentle breeze. Later on it started to get pretty hot, but even though it was supposedly in the 90s, it sure didn't feel that way. I followed JJ for the first nine holes. Her dad and sister were also along; her sister looks a lot like Se Ri.

JJ was playing with Alison Hanna, who is from the Portland area, so most of the people following the group were pulling for her. But she made a hash of it right away, hitting her second shot on this par 5 into the water and winding up with a triple bogey. The third player in the group was Candie Kung. JJ was pretty much the longest driver on every hole I watched. On 10, she hit a great drive, a perfect layup to about 80 yards, then striped her wedge to three feet for an easy birdie. She left herself a longish birdie on 11 and couldn't convert; tap in par. On 12, she almost reached the green in two on this par 5, then hit a chip shot that lipped out of the hole. Tap in birdie.

She just really was looking sharp at this point. Even when she didn't make birdie, it looked like she might.

JJ had a routine par on 13 from the fringe, but for some reason, the scoreboard said it was a bogey (both her playing partners made bogey here). So for a long time, the scoreboard said she was at 1 under, when she was at 2 under. JJ was kinda mediocre on 14, and on 15, she left her approach 30 feet from the flag, but nearly made the birdie anyway. Tap in par.