2007 KLPGA KB Star Tour #5

KB Star Tour #5
The fifth and final KB Star tour event was a four round event, unusual for the KLPGA, starting on Thursday, November 1st, and going through Sunday, November 4th.

Ji Yai Shin stated in the press that she wants to try to win ten events this year. She already had eight, but there were only a few events left in the year, so even for her, that was going to be a challenge.

Still, she got out to a solid start in round one. She shot a 2 under par 70, which was good enough to leave her tied for second, just a shot out of the lead. It was somewhat of an up and down round for her. She had four birdies on the front nine and only one bogey, but on the back she bogied 12 and 13 before making birdies on the next two holes, then bogeying 17 to finish at 70. Considering that she usually starts a bit worse than this, it boded well for her for the rest of the week.

The leader, meanwhile, was an amateur: Min Young Song (pictured). Min Young is known in the States as Jennifer Song. The 18 year old shot a 3 under par 69 consisting of six birdies and three bogies. Song has a promising future ahead of her: she is apparently going to attend USC on scholarship next year, and you may recall that she had good results in both the US Women's Amateur (she made it to the quarterfinals) and the US Women's Open (she was this year's low amateur). Was this the birth of a new star? Or would she wither under the pressure of leading the event?

Meanwhile, most of the other top KLPGA stars got off to slow starts. Na Yeon Choi shot a 2 over par 74, while Eun Hee Ji could only muster a 4 over par 76. Sun Ju Ahn, meanwhile, was tied for 70th and fighting to make the cut. Hee Young Park was cruising along nicely until a disastrous quad bogey on the 17th sent her spiraling down; she finished with a 5 over par 77.

There was a lot of movement on the leaderboard in round two. Amazingly, the two players on the board with the most impressive resumes had the most problems. Ji Yai Shin, who started the day just one shot out of the lead, had a lot of trouble on Friday. She had two bogies and a birdie on the front nine, and another bogey on the treacherous 17th to shoot a surprising 2 over par 74, which dropped her to even par for the week. The conditions were so hard that that still left her in a tie for fifth, and with two rounds to go, she was still in the tournament.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Song also had trouble on this day. She started the action in first place at three under, but wound up shooting a one over par 73 which included a bogey on the final hole. She now sat at 2 under, by herself in third.

The best round of the day was turned in by another KLPGA star, Hee Young Park (pictured). Starting earlier than the others, she shot a perfect 6 under par 66, 6 birdies, no mistakes. This was the best round of the tournament so far. She started the day way the heck back after a first round 77, but now sat at one under total in solo fourth place. Hee Young had yet to win a tournament in 2007, but this one would be a great one to make her first.

The second best round of the day was shot by someone higher up on the leaderboard to start the day, Young Ran Jo. Jo started the day tied for second with Shin among others, but shot an explosive 4 under par 68 to vault to 6 under total. This gave her a three shot lead over second place Bo Bae Park, and a four shot lead over Jennifer Song. There was a lot of action to go, but she had certainly staked herself out to an impressive lead entering the weekend.

Among those missing the cut were Ara Koh, Woo Ri Choi and Sun Ju Ahn.

Going into Saturday's action, Ji Yai Shin had a bit of ground to make up, but was still thinking she had a chance to get her 9th win this week. But things just didn't go well for her on this day. She made nothing but pars for the first 15 holes she played. When she finally broke that string, it was with a bogey. She ended up shooting a 73 and sinking to one over par, which left her tied for 9th place.

Meanwhile, second round leader Young Ran Jo (pictured) went hog wild at the same time. Already holding a three shot lead at the start of the day, she continued her excellent play on Saturday, going three under on her first nine holes to leap up to 9 under par. She struggled more on the back nine, notching two more birdies and two more bogies to finish the day at that score. That left her, when all was said and done, with a six shot lead going into the final day of the event. She would have to seriously mess up to give anyone a chance at catching her at this point.

Jennifer Song tried her best to keep pace. The first round leader wound up shooting a 71 to finish at 3 under total, all by herself in second place. She had a good chance to achieve her best ever finish in a professional event, and certainly the win was not an impossibility, but she would need a little help from Jo if she wants to lift the trophy on Sunday.

Hee Young Park, who shot the best round of the tournament Friday when she produced a 66, went back to struggling on day three. She shot a 3 over par 75 to fall back to 2 over total. She has a ton of talent, but she needs to learn to be more consistent if she wants to become a great golfer like Shin. Another youngster trying to find her way did better: Song Hee Kim shot a 70 on Saturday and now sat at one under par total. She was in line for her best professional finish since her heyday on the Futures Tour in 2006.

Young Ran Jo had a dominating six shot lead with one round to go. She had not won on tour before, however, and would be in new territory come Sunday trying to close the deal for the first time. Would anyone be able to stop her? Or would she stumble and do herself in?

Her nearest challenger was amateur Jennifer Song. Song had been the first round leader, and was in the top five for the next two rounds. But something went terribly wrong for her right from the outset on day four. She started with two straight bogies, and never got back on track. She wound up shooting a 5 over par 77 and plunging out of the top ten. Too bad that she finished her week so poorly after such a great first three days, but there's no doubt she has a great future ahead of her.

All Jo really had to do, it seemed, was put together an even par round and the win was hers. She did her part on the front nine, scoring nine straight pars. But she made two bogies on 10 and 11 to fall to 7 under. She still had the lead, but...

Coming up fast behind her was none other than Ji Yai Shin (pictured). Playing like a woman on a mission, Shin made up for her last two days of mediocre golf with some scintillating play on this day. She posted birdies on 2 and 6, then made four more from holes 8 through 11. She now sat at 5 under par, having reduced the lead Jo had on her from 10 shots to 2 with a bunch of holes left to play. Shin wants to make history, and once again, she had it within her grasp.

But then the wheels fell off. Shin made bogey on 12, bogey on 13, and a crushing triple bogey on 14. In just three holes, she gave back nearly all of her gains. She wound up shooting a respectable 71, and would grab yet another top five, but it could have been so much more!

Jo may have avoided Shin, but another Korean star was also making a run at her at the same time. Song Hee Kim has had a terrible 2007, but she has shown some signs lately of getting her mojo back. She started the day at 1 under par, 8 shots behind Jo, but like Shin, made a big move up the leaderboard. She was three under on the front nine, then added a birdie on 11 to move to within two shots of Jo. Jo made a bogey on 13, and Kim a birdie on 14, so for the first time in several days, Young Ran Jo shared the lead with someone. Kim had made up the eight shot lead on Jo, and now the two were neck and neck battling for the top prize.

Jo didn't give up: she posted a birdie on 16, but Kim matched her, maintaining the tie for the lead at 7 under. It all came down to the final hole, a par five. This is Song Hee Kim's bread and butter, being a long driver, but on this day she messed up, making bogey, while Jo made par. Thus, Young Ran Jo eked out the win on the final hole after looking like a lock most of the week. Song Hee Kim will have to wait longer to claim her first win since leaving the Futures Tour. But at least she is getting back into the dominating style that made her so promising in the first place.

Congratulations to Young Ran Jo on her breakthrough win. Like so many others, Jo says she was inspired to take up golf by Se Ri Pak's performance at the 1998 US Women's Open, particularly the famous moment when Se Ri took off her shoes to claim the win. Like Se Ri, Jo did not give up despite tremendous pressure from Shin and Kim, and she now can celebrate with the trophy and the biggest check of her career.