KLPGA Update

The next event took place from June 15 - 17th. It was the BC Card Classic; BC Card is one of the largest credit card companies in Korea. The event was played on a 6,188 yard par 72 course.

After one round, the leader was a nineteen year old golfer named Min Ji Nam (pictured). Nam is good friends with Na On Min, so perhaps Min's recent success on the LPGA inspired her. Nam shot a 6 under par 66 to take a one shot lead.

Tied for third after a 4 under par 68 was none other than Soo-Yun Kang, back in Korea to play a tournament this week. Kang has struggled with her game since the start of the 2006 season, due largely to severe neck problems. A good performance would certainly be a confidence boost for the former #1 player on the KLPGA tour. Among the other top players in the KLPGA, Na Yeon Choi was tied for 6th after a 70, Ji Yai Shin and Eun Hee Ji both shot 71s, and Hee Young Park started her week with a 73.

In round two, everyone was expecting one of the top players on tour to make a run at the top. Absolutely no one was surprised at which player did that. Yep, it was none other than Ji Yai Shin, fresh off her win in the previous event played on tour. Here she did her frequent pattern of a so so first round and a fantastic second. After a slow start on Saturday, she recorded *six* straight birdies from holes 6 - 11 to vault into the lead at 6 under par. This tied the best run of consecutive birdies in tour history, yet another record collected by the amazing teen. She slowed down after that, although she did have one more birdie on 17 to finish with a 6 under par 66 and 7 under par total. Is there anything Ji Yai can't do?

Well, one thing she couldn't do is grab the lead, because another young gun did that. Na Yeon Choi ended up matching Shin's 66, and since she started the day two shots ahead of her, that's where she finished, with the solo lead at 9 under par. Choi had yet to win this season, but she certainly is a top player, so it looked like another great battle was about to begin.

Kangsy, meanwhile, had a so so day; for much of the day she was over par, but she rallied in the end to a one under par 71 and a 5 under total. She was still very much in the hunt, but given the white hot play of Choi and Shin, she was going to have to bring it on Sunday to claim the trophy. First round leader Min Ji Nam stumbled to a one over par 73 and was also at 5 under total.

Great rounds were also turned in by rookie star Ha Neul Kim, who shot a 67 to move to 5 under, and Ran Hong, who shot a 68.

Sunday started with Na Yeon Choi having a two shot lead over Ji Yai Shin (pictured), 9 under to 7 under. Choi had a birdie and a bogey on the front nine however, while Shin slowly added birdies, going three under on the front to take a one shot lead. Choi caught Shin on 10 with a birdie, but Shin followed that with birdie-bogey-birdie on the next three holes to move again to a one shot lead, 11 under to ten under. At this point, it looked like a two person race.

But that's when another player suddenly launched a massive run at the top. Ji Yeon Woo is not a very well known player on tour, but she's had the occasional top finish. She started the day at six under par, but on the back, after going out in one over par, she blistered the field. She made birdie on 10, 13, 14, 16, 17 and 18 to shoot 6 under for the final nine holes. She finished the day at 11 under total. When she finished, she was tied for the lead with Shin and one ahead of Choi. Those other two ladies found themselves unable to make any more birdies as the tournament wound down. Would Woo's incredible run be enough?

Finally on the 17th hole, Shin made the only birdie by either Choi or Shin after the 13th hole to move to 12 under. She made par on the last, and just like that claimed her third victory of the year and second straight win. Woo settled for second with Choi third. And with that win, Shin was once again the top player on tour with everyone else trying to catch her.

How amazing is Ji Yai Shin? Consider this: last year, in her record shattering rookie season, she did not win her third event until the penultimate event of the year. This season she won it with still about half the year to go. No one has ever won four or more events on tour in a single year, so she has a chance to set that record. As well, she has the chance to become the first golfer to win three straight events on tour since the days of Mi Hyun Kim and Se Ri Pak (both of whom did it in the late nineties). (Eun Hee Ji had a chance to win three straight earlier in the year, but lost the Korean Women's Open after leading it the first two rounds). And every indication is that she will shatter her own record for most money made in a single season, after having already blown the previous record away in 2006.

Shin has been really challenged this year on tour, both by Ji and by Sun Ju Ahn, who have each won twice. She has risen to the challenge beautifully. You have to wonder what's going to happen now that the sleeping giant has been awoken on that tour!