KLPGA Update

The next event on the KLPGA tour was the SK Enclean Solux Invitational, contested on September 15 - 17th. This is one of the biggest money events on the KLPGA tour (although still low money by LPGA standards), so the LPGA players turned out in force! The field included star LPGA rookies Kyeong Bae and Jee Young Lee and former KLPGA number ones Joo Mi Kim and Soo-Yun Kang. In addition, two players who had been injured for a while were making comebacks. One was Mi Hyun Kim, who had dealt with a few nagging problems since her win at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic in July. The other star, making her first start since June, was none other than Grace Park. Hopefully free of the injuries that had sidelined her for the previous three months, Grace told the press that she was definitely too rusty to contend for the trophy, but just hoped to start her road to recovery with a good finish.

In addition, the usual KLPGA stars were back, including Ji-Yai Shin, who was the defending champion. Shin had won the event in 2005 as a 17 year old amateur, the only amateur to win on the KLPGA in 2005. The top pro the previous year was Kyeong Bae, who was back to try to see if she could finish one spot higher this year. The pairings were certainly enticing: In one group was Grace Park, Mi Hyun Kim and Shin, while in another group, Jee Young Lee, Hee Young Park and Kangsy were combined. The large crowds that showed up to watch certainly got a treat!

There were other former champions in the field, including Kimmie, who had won the first two editions of the event in 1996 and 1997. Kim had not won a KLPGA event in six years and was eager to correct that problem this week. Bo Bae Song had won the event in 2004. In general, this tournament seemed to produce top players as the champions, with Il Mi Chung winning it in 2000, Meena Lee in 2002, and of course Bo Bae and Shin the last two years. Who would claim the title in 2006?

As mentioned previously, Kimmie, Grace and Ji Yai were playing together in round one. Grace and Ji-Yai talked together quite a bit, but Kimmie was off by herself mostly. Grace also chatted quite a bit between shots with Greg Johnston, her new full time caddie. They seem to be off to a good start.

On the par 5 13th, Grace hit a fantastic second shot that hit in front of the green and rolled to about ten feet. She drained the eagle. The TV commentators picked that one as shot of the day. On the other par 5, she hit 4 iron off the tee, but still hit it 240. In general, Grace was hitting it fairly straight, but didn't leave herself too many good birdie chances. But she still shot a 3 under 69. She had two bogies to start her day, including a missed three foot lip out par save on hole 1. On 4 she nailed a birdie from the fringe. In all, she had three birdies, two bogies and an eagle, a very good round considering it was her first in three months.

Shin is apparently one centimeter shorter than Kimmie! She smiles a lot when she plays. It was a solid but unspectacular 2 under 70 for her, but it certainly kept her in the hunt. Kimmie in early action made a birdie on 10 from the fringe, but lipped out another on 12.

There was a huge backup on the 14th tee; Grace and co. waited there about 40 minutes. This gave the Korean stars a chance to talk with each other while they waited to play.

Kyeong Bae didn't play particularly well on day one; she missed a four foot par save on 18 to finish at 2 over. But her day was still reams better than Hee Young Park's. Park was +6 when the television coverage started. She airmailed the green on 14, hit a poor chip, and made bogey to fall to +7. Fortunately she rallied somewhat after that and finished the day at 5 over. But that left her in danger of missing the cut, and well behind her arch rival Ji-Yai Shin.

Kangsy, meanwhile, was 'on fire!' She made birdie on 11, bogey on 12, and birdie on 13. On 14 she hit her approach to 5 feet and drilled the birdie to move to 4 under and a tie for the lead at the time. When Kimmie played 14, she hit her approach over the flag and snapped it back to 15 feet, then buried the birdie to move to 2 under. Grace, from the same distance but short of the flag, just missed her birdie there. Tap in par.

Meanwhile, both Jin Joo Hong and Na Yeon Choi made short birdies on the par 5 15th to move to -4 and -5 respectively. Hong was the woman who won the KLPGA's Best Dressed award last year.

On 16, a 328 yard par 4, Kangsy put her approach to 4 feet and made that birdie to also move to 5 under. She was really hitting some nice irons. On the par 5 15th, Kimmie hit her third, which was basically a short pitch from in front of the green, to 3 feet past the hole, then made birdie to move to 3 under. That looked solid. But Grace, who laid up off the tee, had a full wedge in, and did not put it close. Par.

On 16, Hong put her approach really close, maybe 2 feet, and made another birdie to move to 5 under, tied for the lead with Kangsy and Choi. Choi's approach got to ten feet, and her birdie try lipped out; it sure looked good for a while, though.

When Grace and Kimmie got to 16, neither had a good approach, and both left long birdie tries a bit short. Pars. Bo Bae made a four foot birdie on 18 to move to 69. She bowed a lot to the galleries after that.

On 17, a 153 yard par 3, Hong hit her tee shot to ten feet and made yet another birdie. She wound up with 7 birdies on the day and only one bogey for a 66 and a one shot lead. Kangsy's approach on 18 barely made the green, and she left her putt 2 feet short. Par.

On the par 3 17th, Grace had one of her patented let go of the club tee shots, but the ball still rolled onto the front of the green. Two putt par.

All in all, Kangsy looked dynamite. Lots of great irons, and her putting looked confident. Kimmie and Grace got more comfortable as the round progressed. KB, Jee Young and Joo Mi had mediocre days. Joo Mi made a couple dumb mistakes, but also a birdie or two to finish at two over, while Jee Young finished the day at one over.

In Round 2, KLPGA Best Dresser Jin Joo Hong continued her torrid play of day one. After going one under on the front nine, she really hit her stride on the back, making four straight birdies from 14 through 17 to shoot a 5 under par 67. This gives her an 11 under par total, and a formidable 6 shot lead.

The other top players played decently for the most part, but no one was able to keep up with Hong. A bunch of players were tied for second at five under, including Kimmie, who shot a 70 but made all pars on the back nine (two birdies total). Na Yeon Choi was also at 5 under after an even par round, and Ji-Yai Shin had four birdies and a bogey to move to 5 under, too.

Grace? She also shot an even par round. For much of the day she was at 5 under as well, but bogied 16 and 18 to fall to an even par total on the day and 3 under overall. That was still good enough to be tied for 13th.

BB Song had an interesting day. She went out in three over par, but on the back had four birdies and only one bogey to climb back to even for the day and 3 under. Kangsy really struggled, making only a single birdie against four bogies and a final hole double bogey. After her first round 67, she shot a 77 and fell back to even par total! On the other hand, Hee Young Park shot a 4 under par 68, one of the best rounds of the day, to vault up to one over par herself, a complete change from her disastrous 77 on day one. She had only one bogey and five birdies.

If Hong was nervous with her huge lead, she sure didn't show it on the final day. The lead got down to as little as four shots, but then she made a couple of birdies on the back side and cruised in to the win. She finished with a 14 under total, a seven shot win, one of the largest victories on the KLPGA in recent years. A fantastic achievement for her, and one that caused her to get quite emotional during and after the trophy ceremony.

In second place was the ever consistent Ji-Yai Shin, last week's winner and the defending champion here. Shin was trying to make it interesting, making three birdies on the front side, but made a bogey on ten and then straight pars after that. Still, she shot a 2 under par 70 and finished at 7 under. Yet another top five for her, and she increased her money list and POY lead over the rest of the league. With this finish, she moved to within shouting distance of breaking Se Ri's all time season money record.

Hee Young Park was losing ground fast to Shin, but she made a valiant effort nonetheless. She started on the back nine and made five birdies in her first seven holes. Unfortunately, she made double bogey on 17 to kill her momentum, but still made seven birdies, one double and one bogey to shoot a very solid 68 to move to 3 under for the week and a tie for 15th. Considering how awful her golf was in round one, her weekend was great.

Grace also started well, with two straight birdies, but never did much after that. She wound up with four birdies, three bogies, and a 71. She tied for 11th, a very good showing for her first tournament back. Kimmie also wound up tied for 11th at 4 under. Kangsy bounced back nicely from her 77 on day two with a 69 on Sunday. She tied for 15th at 3 under.