2006 Corning Classic

On Saturday night, Dean Reinmuth, Hee-Won's coach, had been watching the Golf Channel and noticed a problem with her ball position. He phoned her to let her know, and like a good student, Hee-Won took her coach's advice and made an adjustment. Obviously, it had paid dividends, and now the two old rivals, Meena Lee and Hee-Won Han, would play a sudden death playoff for the title. It was, remarkably, the third playoff in 2006 between Korean golfers. Lee had never lost a playoff, dating all the way back to her amateur days. She had won her only LPGA playoff in February, beating rookie Seon Hwa Lee at the Fields Open. Hee-Won was 2-3 in LPGA playoffs, her wins coming at the Wendy's Championship against Wendy Ward in 2003, and the Safeway Classic in 2004 against Lorie Kane.

Hee-Won won the right to play first. They played the 18th hole. Hee-Won's drive was a bit left, while Meena's was perfect. But Hee-Won hit her approach into the bunker, while Meena got onto the green, ten feet from the flag. Advantage Lee.

But not for long. Han hit a gorgeous out from the bunker, despite being short sided. She was left with a five footer for par. Then it was Meena's chance. Dunk the putt, win the title. But she just missed it, tapping in for par. Now it was Hee-Won's turn to rise to the occasion. And she did, making the par save like the pro she is! After one playoff hole, the two were all square.

The second playoff hole was the 8th. Hee-Won hit three wood off the tee, Meena driver. Both were perfect. Hee-Won hit a nice iron from 120 yards to fifteen feet. Meena's approach from slightly closer landed closer than Han's, but hit a ridge and rolled away from the hole, ending up forty feet away. This was a bad break, made worse when her first putt came up well short of the hole. The momentum had shifted to Hee-Won.

But her birdie was no gimme from that range, and she two putted for par. Lee was left with a nerve wracking 5 footer to save par. But demonstrating the superlative putting skill for which she is known, she drained it by hitting the center of the cup. Once again, they were all square.

For the third playoff hole they again played the 18th. This time, both hit bad drives off the tee. Hee-Won, however, got lucky when her drive hit a tree and bounced back into the fairway! Meena's did not, and she had to thread her second shot through some trees to get back into play. She did not hit a great shot from there, and was left with 112 yards for her third. Hee-Won applied the pressure by hitting her approach to 20 feet. Meena had to get it close to have a chance; Hee-Won was not going to three putt from there.

Meena hit a pretty good iron 6 feet past the flag. Hee-Won could not make her birdie, and left it three feet short. Then Meena stepped up and drained another clutch par save. Now the pressure was on Han: not the easiest putt considering the circumstances. But she made it, and yet another hole was required.

The first playoff between Koreans in 2006 had gone two holes; the second took three holes to decide. This one was now four holes old. On hole 8, Hee-Won again hit towards the trees, but had her ball bounce out into the fringe. Meena was perfect this time. Hee-Won hit first, leaving her ball about 8 feet from the flag. Not bad! Meena, however, hit her approach over the flag into the rough behind. A very tough place to chip from; if you hit it too hard, the ball could roll dozens of feet past the flag. Not hard enough, and it would stay in the fringe. She hit her chip a trifle too hard, but it only rolled about ten feet past the flag. A lucky break, but she was still farther from the flag than Hee-Won, and so putted again. She was not able to make another clutch par save, though, and thus had given Hee-Won two putts for the win. Han put her birdie putt right next to the hole, then tapped in for her fifth career victory on tour. It was a great day for Hee-Won!

But a bad day for Meena. As it turns out, Meena had made a huge mistake a few weeks earlier. She had qualified for the US Women's Open due to her great play this year and last. But like every other player, she has to officially apply to get into the field. Despite repeated warning emails from the USGA, Meena missed the deadline to apply, and thus will not be in the field at the Open. That is, unless she wins a tournament before then. Had she beaten Hee-Won, she would have been able to avoid the consequences of her horrible mistake (for the record, Joo Mi Kim made the same mistake). Hee-Won knew of her plight and felt for her, but later remarked that she had no intention of letting Meena walk off with the trophy; 'I'm not that nice!' she said, laughing.

She may not be nice enough to gift a win to a competitor, but she is certainly one of the nicest ladies on tour anyway. And with this win, she has now become the Korean with the longest winning streak on tour: she has won an event every year since 2003. Here's hoping her hot play will continue through the Majors, and she'll have a chance to add one of those big trophies to her mantelpiece as well. When she gets on one of her streaks, you never know what to expect, other than that it's going to be good!