Fairways and Greens

It's a Boy!
Congratulations to Hee-Won Han, Korean golfer extraordinaire, and her husband Son Hyuk, Major league baseball pitcher in training, on the birth of their first child on the 23rd of June. It's a boy! And his name is Dae Il. Little Dae Il was delivered via C section in Irvine, California. The boy was 7 pounds, 14 ounces at birth. We haven't been able to find any confirmed photos of the little guy yet, but when they release one we'll be sure to pass it on to you. In the meantime, congratulations to the happy couple!

Hee-Won, meanwhile, will spend the next few months taking care of the little fella, then will start training to return to the tour. She expects to make her reappearance in time to defend her title at the Honda Classic in Thailand late in the year.

Tiffany Joh wins Safeway Open
Every year, the Safeway Classic (the LPGA tournament in Portland) has a special event for amateurs. The winner of the event qualifies for a sponsor's exemption into the Safeway Classic. The qualifier has been good to the Sisters: one year 13 year old Jane Rah got in, while another time it was long hitting local girl Rebecca Kim.

This year, the event was won by Tiffany Joh, the bubbly Korean American who just finished her sophomore year at UCLA (she is best known for beating Kim Squared at last year's US Pub Links to claim the title). She is a great golfer but also a REAL interesting character, perhaps the second coming of Christina Kim. This will be her first LPGA event and I am totally psyched to get a chance to see her in action! See you in Portland in August, Tiffany!

For those who have not had a chance, do check out her blog here: http://www.waggleroom.com/user/TiffJoh

Seo Jae Lee wins twice on the Futures Tour
All year long, the Futures Tour Koreans have suffered from a winless drought. They have come close to claiming titles on a few occasions, but were never able to get the job done. All that changed when Seo Jae Lee, a non-exempt LPGA player who has been focusing on the Futures Tour this year, claimed two consecutive wins on that tour.
Her first win came the same weekend that In-Kyung Kim narrowly lost her chance to win at the Wegman's Rochester LPGA. And it came at a big tournament, the $100,000 Duramed Championship. Lee started the final round behind, but took the lead on the second hole with a birdie and never looked back. She wound up shooting a 69 on the last day, which gave her a three day total of 15 under par - the best winning score on the Futures Tour this season. Lee scored a three shot win over runners-up Violeta Remaroza of Mexico and Korean Eunjung Yi of Murieta, California, who both finished at 12 under par. Seo Jae Lee has only played two LPGA events this year, missing the cut at one and finishing tied for 35th at the other (the Corning Classic). Yi, who won the 2005 US Women's Public Links as an amateur (when she was calling herself Eunjung Lee), also made a charge, but her putting did her in.

The next week, the tour moved to Saint Anne, Illinois, where the event was the Team WLF.org Golf Classic. On the Monday of that week, Lee took several of her friends out to celebrate her first professional win from the week before. Judging by her results in Illinois, she might consider making these celebratory dinners a good luck routine! At the WLF.org Classic, Lee battled it out with South American golfer Celeste Troche, winning the trophy by dunking a 21 foot birdie putt on the final hole. Her total for the week was 8 under par (71-68-69). She finished two shots ahead of Troche and another Korean golfer, Ha Na Chae. So, the Koreans may have started slowly, but they are starting to notch more wins and top five finishes. Lee's second win, meanwhile, moved her into third on the Futures Tour money list, giving her a good shot at earning her tour card by the end of the year. Congratulations again to Seo Jae Lee on her accomplishments!

Christina Kim My World
Be sure to be on the lookout for a new program on the Golf Channel called My World. It features behind the scenes looks at professional golfers. They have been showing ads for one episode featuring none other than Christina Kim. Christina was also recently featured in an episode of the Golf Channel's 'Playing Lessons with the Pros' that might still be rerun from time to time, so watch out for it!

Skins Game to honor Se Ri Pak?
Sema Sports Management has recently announced that they are trying to organize a Skins Game sometime this Fall to honor Se Ri Pak's recent qualification for the Hall of Fame. The Skins Game will pit Se Ri against three other LPGA stars. The event will be held at the Sky72 golf complex in Inchon. Among the names who have been floated for this event are Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa and Karrie Webb. It will be truly amazing if they can get all three of those women to appear along with Se Ri, but we'll keep our eyes open for more details as they become available.

Young Kim's award
Young Kim recently returned to her hometown and received a special honor from the officials there, celebrating her achievements on the LPGA tour, specifically her recent maiden win on that tour at the Corning Classic. On hand to watch her receive the award were members of her family. Congratulations on the honor!

Korean Comic based on Pak, Wie
Korean comic book icon Hyun Sae Lee will be coming out with a new comic book called 'Birdie', about two Korean golfers based loosely on Se Ri Pak and Michelle Wie. The book will also contain information about the history of women's golf, and will focus on how athletes find ways around life's obstacles through their focus on the sport. When we find out more about the book and when, where and how it wll be available, we'll let you know! In the meantime, enjoy this sketch that Lee released to the public!

Korean American pro-am at Safeway Classic
How's this for a neat idea? The organizers of the Safeway Classic, the annual LPGA tournament in Portland, figured out a way to take advantage of the preponderance of Korean stars on tour. At this year's event, they will co-host the first ever Korean pro-am. The event, titled the Oregon Korea Foundation Pro-Am, will raise funds for the Oregon Korea Foundation and the charities it supports. It will join members of the Korean American community with the popular Korean stars of the LPGA in a pro-am environment. “This is the first LPGA event to include a Korean pro-am in its official tournament week activities and we are hoping to build it into a larger event as time goes on,” said Tom Maletis, president of Tournament Golf Foundation, who run the Safeway Classic. Added Roy Kim, co-chairman of the Oregon Korea Foundation, "Korean LPGA players are superstars at home. This event gives members of the local Korean community the opportunity to meet these players in a fun and social atmosphere, while raising money for a good cause.” Sounds like a great way to take advantage of the special qualities the Korean contingent brings to the LPGA tour!

Money List
Se Ri Pak has had a fantastic few weeks. First she cruised to a tie for 4th finish at the US Women's Open, then followed that up with her first win of the year at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic. Kimmie notched a top ten at the Open and nearly won the Wegman's, and the money she earned allowed her to become the top Korean on the money list. JJ also made a killing at the Open and did well in her title defense at Wegman's, so she, too, made a nice move on the money list.

The Korean rookies on tour had a fabulous few weeks. Making huge money in that time frame was Angela Park, who came very close to winning the Open; she has vaulted into the top ten for the first time. In-Kyung Kim made a giant move up the money list thanks to her runner-up finish at the Wegman's Rochester, while In-Bee Park's tie for 4th at the US Women's Open pretty much sealed her exempt card for next year.

Second year golfers have had good seasons as well; currently there are three sophomore golfers in the top thirty. Leading the way is Jee Young Lee at 11th, with Seon Hwa Lee and Kyeong Bae also positioned in the top 30. Lee had the best results the past few weeks thanks to her top ten at the Open, although Bae also got a top ten there as well. Lee finished in solo 7th and Bae tied for 10th.