2007 Kolon-Hana Bank Championship

The Kolon-Hana Bank Championship is the only LPGA event held in South Korea every year. It is a very big deal to the fans there, who not only get to see their favorite Korean golfers play in person, but also get to witness world class golfers from other countries take them on. For the Korean contingent in 2007, this event couldn't have come soon enough. They have had an extremely tough time collecting wins this year, although they have certainly been in contention often enough. They had not collected a win on tour since mid-July, when Seon Hwa Lee won the World Match Play championship. Here it was mid October, and the drought was continuing. But in the five year history of this event, the Koreans had not only won it every single year, they had led every single round. So hopefully, this trend would continue for them in 2007.

It would not be an easy task to take the title this year, though. Both Lorena Ochoa and Suzann Pettersen, the top two golfers on tour in 2007, would be at the tournament, and they would be joined by several top American stars, including Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis and Cristie Kerr, all of whom had won tournaments in 2007. The weather always has proved to be a challenge as well. It is probably not the wisest time to schedule a golf tournament in South Korea, as the temperatures tend to be very cold, with the winds making things even tougher.

Still, this event has been good to the Korean contingent over the years, perhaps better than any other event on the schedule. In fact, not only have the LPGA golfers from Korea done well here, so have the KLPGA golfers invited to participate in this event. The tournament started in 2001, but was canceled due to the invasion of Afghanistan that year. The next year, it finally was played, and none other than Se Ri Pak claimed the crown by six shots. The conditions were among the toughest the women have ever faced, with icicles literally hanging from their hats in the final round. In 2003, Se Ri did a good job defending her title, but she was beaten in the end by an unheralded KLPGA golfer name Shi Hyun Ahn (pictured above). The nineteen year old not only outdueled Se Ri down the stretch to claim the title, she made an eagle on the final hole to put an exclamation point on her win. Ahn earned the nickname 'Cinderella' following her stunning triumph, which gave her a three year membership on the LPGA tour. She made the most of it, earning the Rookie of the Year honors in 2004, and becoming a solid LPGA pro thereafter. In 2004, another LPGA golfer took the title: Grace Park. That was the first year they started the tradition of giving the champion a Korean hanbok to wear during the trophy ceremony.

In 2005, it was time for another Cinderella to take the trophy. This time, the KLPGA player who beat the field was 19 year old Jee Young Lee. Lee went on to a great rookie year on the LPGA in 2006, and in 2007, she has frequently been in the top ten on the money list. Her achievements this year include three second place finishes, the most notable being the runner up finish at the British Women's Open, the year's final Major. Amazingly, 2006's edition saw yet another Korean Cinderella, Jin Joo Hong (pictured), win it all. Hong, unlike the other two KLPGA golfers, has not had a strong rookie year. She has maintained her tour status, but did not even have a single top ten coming into her title defense at this year's event. The LPGA has become stingier with their membership rules: these days, winning this event only gets you a single year of exempt status, not the three years Ahn and Lee earned (those two actually got one year of non-exempt status, two years of exempt status). Still, Hong will be able to play on the LPGA next year if she wants.

Every year, the tournament generates excitement not only because of the LPGA players coming to play in Korea, but also because of the KLPGA players getting a chance to test their mettle against these top players. This year in particular, the KLPGA contingent is chock full of talented ladies who have already shown what they can do against world class competition. Na Yeon Choi had recently won her sectional qualifying tournament at LPGA Q-School (with fellow KLPGAer Hee Young Park also finishing in the top five). Sun Ju Ahn had achieved a top ten finish at the Evian Masters, and Eun-Hee Ji finished tied for 5th at the British Women's Open as well as collecting a top twenty at the Evian Masters. And then there's Ji Yai Shin. Coming into this week's event, Shin had seven wins on the KLPGA tour this year, the most ever achieved in a single year on that tour. With the LPGA Koreans slumping in the past few months, Shin's domination of the KLPGA had become even more impressive. Furthermore, she had finished fourth at this same event in 2006, when she wasn't nearly as strong as she was now. Would she be able to capture the event and in the process defeat two of the hottest golfers in the world, Ochoa and Pettersen? The press was certainly building up this potential duel.

As usual, the LPGA golfers arrived in the country with a lot of fanfare. The press met the most famous of the golfers right at the airport, snapping photos of them and doing interviews before they even had a chance to get over their jet lag. Pictured below are Jee Young Lee, Se Ri Pak and Mi Hyun Kim arriving in Korea.