Rivalries can elevate an entire sport into something truly special.  Yes, a dominant player smashing records has its place, as does parity, where a lot of different players could possibly win.  But a good old fashioned rivalry, where two players butt heads repeatedly for the top position in a sport can be as exciting as it gets.

In golf, rivalries can be a bit different than in other sports.  Golf is a sport where even great players lose a lot more often than they win; even two great players may rarely find themselves both playing well at the same event during a season.  How exciting, then, was this year’s China Open, which saw the top two players on the KLPGA tour in the final group, both playing well, both shooting for the crown.  And the final round lived up to its promise and more.

Hee Kyung Seo and So Yeon Ryu

Coming into round three, top gun Hee Kyung Seo held a two shot lead over the #2 player on the KLPGA, So Yeon Ryu.  But Seo struggled on the front nine, making three straight bogies at one point.  Ryu was one under at the same time, and thus climbed into a two shot lead over her and Chinese player Taoli Yang at the turn.

So Yeon Ryu

But Seo did not become the great player she is because she gives up.  She rallied with birdies on 10 and 12 to move back to a tie for the lead.  Ryu then countered with a birdie on the par 5 13th to reclaim the lead.  They then exchanged pars for several more tense holes.

Hee Kyung Seo

For a brief moment, it looked like the hometown girl Yang might join them.  She was still at 2 under, three behind Ryu, when she made birdie on 16 to cut the lead to two, and just one shot behind Seo.  But a bogey on the final hole ended her chances of taking the title home for China.

Seo, meanwhile, showed her grit by making birdie on 17 to again climb to 5 under and a share of the lead.  With one hole to go, they were all tied.  And after both made pars on 18, the tournament would conclude the way it had to: in a playoff.

Hee Kyung Seo

They would repeatedly play the 18th hole until a winner emerged.  If Seo is tough as nails when it comes to comebacks, Ryu’s forte is one on one confrontations.  She won the Doosan Match Play championship last season after a grueling nine hole playoff.  But both players had troubles the first time on 18, making bogey.  The second time through, they made par.  Finally, on the third pass, Seo blinked, making a double bogey while Ryu again parred.  It was a bit of a down way to end things after the brilliance that had proceeded it.  But Ryu had nonetheless pulled out the win.

So Yeon Ryu

This is a huge win for Ryu.  The second event of the 2010 season won’t be for a few months, so she will be able to sit on the money list lead over Seo all that time.  This will doubtless give Seo a lot of motivation going into Winter training.  And best of all, the league will benefit, as the Seo-Ryu rivalry has added another new and interesting chapter.

So Yeon Ryu

So Yeon Ryu

Congratulations So Yeon Ryu.  See you all in a few months!!

Scores:
1. So Yeon Ryu 70-71-70 -5*
2. Hee Kyung Seo 68-71-72 -5
3. Jung Eun Lee 5 70-71-73 -2
Taoli Yang (China) 72-70-72 -2
5. Bo Mi Lee 73-72-69 -1

* Won on third playoff hole

Notables:
6. Yani Tseng 75-73-68 Even
8. Jimin Nam (R) 72-73-72 +1
11. Seon Hwa Lee 2 76-68-72 +2
15. Il Hee Lee 73-76-70 +3
19. Ran Hong 74-71-75 +4
Young Ran Jo 72-75-73 +4
Li Jiayun (A) (China) 76-67-77 +4
25. He Yong Choi 75-74-72 +5
26. Ha Neul Kim 76-73-73 +6
38. Bo Mi Suh 78-75-72 +9
Ji Na Lim 75-72-78 +9
71. Aram Cho 78-76-81 +19

KLPGA superstar Hee Kyung Seo started round 2 with a two shot lead.  She and her chief rival So Yeon Ryu, who started the day two shots back, both played the morning session on this day.  Seo was not having the best of days, and for a while she was one over par for the round.  Since Ryu was one under, that left them tied at the top of the leaderboard at 3 under early on.

Hee Kyung Seo

Eventually, Seo made two birdies and climbed to 5 under, where she finished her day with a 71.  Ryu also shot a 71 to finish at 3 under, still in second, still two shots behind Seo.  Ryu has not won a tournament in a while, whereas Seo won the previous event on tour, the ADT-CAPS.  So Ryu will doubtless be hungry on Saturday to make a statement and capture the first event of the new season right out from under Seo.  Should be a great battle between the two!

So Yeon Ryu

Hee Kyung Seo

Another KLPGA star also shot a 71 and sits tied with Ryu at 3 under: Jung Eun Lee.  Although she has not won nearly as often as the other two players, don’t ignore her!  She could pull off a surprising upset.

The Chinese are doing pretty well right now, with two players in the top five.  The surprise of the day is amateur Jiayun Li, who turned in a sizzling 67 to move to fifth place, just four shots behind Seo.  No doubt the home crowd would love to see her win this event!

KLPGA star Ji Na Lim in round 2

One more day; who will start the KLPGA season in style with a win?

Scores:
1. Hee Kyung Seo 68-71 -5
2. So Yeon Ryu 70-71 -3
Jung Eun Lee 5 70-71 -3
4. Taoli Yang (China) 72-70 -2
5. Li Jiayun (A) (China) 76-67 -1

Notables:
6. Seon Hwa Lee 2 76-68 Even
11. Ran Hong 74-71 +1
Jimin Nam (R) 72-73 +1
Bo Mi Lee 73-72 +1
19. Ji Na Lim 75-72 +3
Young Ran Jo 72-75 +3
23. Yani Tseng 75-73 +4
30. Ha Neul Kim 76-73 +5
He Yong Choi 75-74 +5
Il Hee Lee 73-76 +5
60. Bo Mi Suh 78-75 +9
67. Aram Cho 78-76 +10
74. Soo Jin Yang 78-77 +11
101. Ga Na Lee 80-82 +18

The first event of the 2010 KLPGA season is in full swing, and the results seemed hauntingly familiar.  2009 Player of the Year Hee Kyung Seo did what everyone was expecting: play well.  She shot a 4 under 68 in round one, the only golfer in the sixties, to establish a two shot lead.  Seo finished second at this event last year, so she clearly likes playing in China.

Hee Kyung Seo

Just behind her tied for second are two more top KLPGA names. So Yeon Ryu finished second on the money list in 2009, and shot a 70 on this day (four birdies, two bogies) to keep the heat on arch-rival Seo.

So Yeon Ryu

Meanwhile, Jung Eun Lee, who finished fourth in the Player of the Year race in 2009, also shot a 70.  Three big stars all bunched up and ready to slug it out.

Jung Eun Lee

Defending champ He Yong Choi struggled to a 75, which left her tied for 30th, while top KLPGA star Ha Neul Kim shot a 76.  LPGA top five golfer Ya Ni Tseng from Taiwan produced a 75 as well.

Among the new rookies, the best result was turned in by Jimin Nam, who shot a 72 and is tied for 7th.

Two more days; who will take this first title of the new year?

Scores:
1. Hee Kyung Seo 68 -4
2. Hyun Hwa Shim 70 -2
So Yeon Ryu 70 -2
Jung Eun Lee 5 70 -2
5. Lee Ring Ye (China) 71 -1
Jang Hee Lee 71 -1
 
Notables:
7. Young Ran Jo 72 Even
Jimin Nam (R) 72 Even
11. Bo Mi Lee 73 +1
Il Hee Lee 73 +1
20. Ran Hong 74 +2
30. Yani Tseng 75 +3
Ji Na Lim 75 +3
He Yong Choi 75 +3
40. Ha Neul Kim 76 +4
Seon Hwa Lee 2 76 +4
53. Hye Youn Kim 77 +5
67. Aram Cho 78 +6
Yoon Ji Jo (R) 78 +6
Soo Jin Yang 78 +6
Bo Mi Suh 78 +6
88. Ga Na Lee 80 +8

I know what you must be thinking: the 2010 season?  Didn’t the 2009 season just end?  And isn’t it still December, 2009?

Well, yes, it’s true, but there’s a weird quirk in the KLPGA season.  Each year, they officially end the season with the ADT-CAPS Championship in late November, then, after the Pinx/Kyoraku Cup, hold their annual awards show.  However, there is one more event that is held in the calendar year: an event co-sanctioned by the Ladies Asian Tour.  That event is the Orient Ladies China Open.  Since the 2009 season has ended, it becomes the first event of the 2010 season, even though the second event of the season won’t be held until March.  Weird, huh?

Anyway, the China Open is upon us.  It is a three round event that will take place from December 17-19.  The event will be held at the Orient Golf and Country Club in China and will be played on a 6,508 yard track.  It will feature 40 invited members from the KLPGA, including all the top stars who are still members of the league in 2010.  Hee Kyung Seo and So Yeon Ryu are ready to renew their rivalry from 2009.  Also featured is LPGA superstar Yani Tseng, as well as a bunch of players from China, Thailand and Japan.

They already had a press conference in China to introduce Seo and Tseng to the press.

Top players in the field at the Orient China Ladies Open

Hee Kyung Seo meets the Chinese press

Besides this rivalry, it will be our first chance to see some of the rookies for 2010.  Included in the field are the top three players from the KLPGA’s developmental tour, the Dream Tour, making their rookie debuts.  They are 18 year old Yoon Ji Jo, 18 year old Sung Hyun Lee, and 19 year old Jimin Nam.  Will one of these ladies be next season’s Rookie of the Year?  Several top players from the Dream Tour have gone on to great KLPGA careers, including Sun Ju Ahn, Bo Mi Lee and Hye Youn Kim, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see these young rookies follow suit!

Yoon Ji Jo is a rookie this season

The defending champion is  He Yong Choi.  This was in fact the final event she won in the 2009 season, which saw her stall somewhat while she was surpassed by her longtime rival So Yeon Ryu, who won 4 events in 2009.  Choi is hopeful that she will be able to get herself back on track in 2010.

He Yong Choi

He Yong Choi

The action starts tomorrow!

Every year in December, the KLPGA throws a big bash to celebrate the year just completed.  They hand out awards for the top players on tour as well as the best of the international Koreans.  It gives the ladies a chance to get dressed up and enjoy themselves.  The award show is well covered in the press, a nice advertisement for the tour (the LPGA might take some notes!).  The show also gives some of the players a chance to play entertainer for a day!

Yes, one of the new traditions of this award show is that some of the top names on tour get a chance to perform in a dance number for the assembled crowd.  Last year, five of the top players on tour did a dance number modeled on the K Pop sensations the Wonder Girls doing their top hit ‘Nobody’.

The KLPGA's Wonder Girls in action.

That went over so well that this year the Awards Show featured two different dance numbers.  The first allowed the young guns of the tour, including top rookies Soo Jin Yang and Rookie of the Year Shin Ae Ahn, to tackle another K Pop hit, the song ‘Mister’ by the group Kara.  The second number roped in four of the top players on tour: Hee Kyung Seo (the Player of the Year), So Yeon Ryu (the tour’s #2), as well as top six players Ji Na Lim and Bo Mi Lee.  They were to do a salsa number with professional male partners.  To this end, they convened at a dance studio to practice their moves and get their choreography down:

Hee Kyung Seo and partner

The Salsa Four: So Yeon Ryu, Bo Mi Lee, Hee Kyung Seo and Ji Na Lim

After the Koreans won the Kyoraku Cup, the four ladies returned to the studio to polish their act some more:

Hee Kyung practices

Lim, Seo and Lee

The HiMart 2009 KLPGA Awards Show took place in Seoul on the afternoon of December 9th.

There’s a tradition at this show to pick an LPGA golfer to co-host the festivities. Young Kim and Jin Joo Hong have been tapped for this duty in the past. This year the KLPGA chose Kyeong Bae to do the honors.

Kyeong Bae co-hosted the program

The five young golfers performed their version of ‘Mister’ for the crowd.  This song is performed by pop group Kara with a lightly suggestive dance that involves shaking their butts at the crowd.  The Korean press has called this the ‘butt dance’, and it is considered mildly controversial.  But the five young golfers, all in their teens, tackled the dance anyway, and seemed to have a great time doing it.

The 'Mister' performance

The five golfers were rookies Soo Jin Yang, Shin Ae Ahn and Da Som Lee and developmental tour stars Soo Ji Lee and Yoon Ji Jo. Here you can see Soo Jin working it.

Soo Jin Yang

Next, the Salsa Four took the stage.  They did the dance with their four partners, and finished it with a cute synchronized golf swing from the four stars.

The Salsa number

Seo and Ryu at the end of the number

Do you trust your partner?

Next came the awards.  It was Hee Kyung Seo’s night all around. In addition to being featured in the dance number, she also picked up four awards: low scoring average, money list leader, Player of the Year and most wins.

Hee Kyung Seo

Hee Kyung Seo

Hee Kyung Seo

One of the few awards not won by Seo was Rookie of the Year. This was captured by 19 year old Shin Ae Ahn. Here she poses with last year’s winner He Yong Choi.

Rookie of the Year Shin Ae Ahn (with last year's winner He Yong Choi)

Jiyai Shin won the award for Best Korean player playing in America.  Considering she won three times and became the first Korean player to lead the LPGA money list, I’d say it was an award well deserved!  Mi Jeong Jeon won the award as the best Korean playing in Japan full time.

Seo and Shin pose with their awards

So Yeon Ryu fought long and hard with Hee Kyung Seo all season for the top spot on tour. In the end, Seo won all the top awards, with Ryu finishing second in most categories.  But Ryu didn’t walk away emptyhanded from the awards show: she was voted ‘Most Popular’ by the KLPGA’s fans. Here she is with Seo, the previous year’s winner, receiving her award.  Interestingly, Seo was in much the same position last year: she won 6 times, but still was shut out of the awards by Shin, and had to settle for the Most Popular Award as her sole honor.

So Yeon Ryu accepts her Most Popular Player Award (with Seo at right)

The top players on tour in 2009 (minus Sun Ju Ahn, who was not at the show) posed on stage towards the end of the festivities.  It was a great year on tour, and 2010 promises to be even better!  Left to Right: Jung Eun Lee, winner of the KLPGA Championship; one time winner Bo Mi Lee; 4 time winner So Yeon Ryu; the KLPGA’s president; World #2 Jiyai Shin, and five time KLPGA winner (with three Majors) Hee Kyung Seo.

The top KLPGA players of 2009

Bonus: here are a few links on YouTube showing some of the fun.  Here is the salsa dance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvVsa3OXhhQ

And here is another view of the salsa dance, with some of the red carpet action as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ys0Wn3l7tM&NR=1

The 2009 golf season in women’s golf was another fantastic one for Korean golfers.  They managed 11 wins on the LPGA tour, a record, while capturing some of the biggest titles on the Japanese tour.  The KLPGA produced a ton of exciting moments, and two Korean women, Bo Mi Suh and Hyun Ji Kim, even captured events on the Ladies European Tour.

But even among all these great achievements, two women stood out as particularly sensational.  On the KLPGA tour, Hee Kyung Seo was a dominant force, while on the LPGA, Jiyai Shin came close to making history.  In this article, I will take a look at what these two women accomplished this year, and what we have to look forward to in 2010.

Jiyai Shin and Hee Kyung Seo pose with the KLPGA's Ha Neul Kim

Jiyai Shin was the Player of the Year on the LPGA tour (no, really!)

The Player of the Year award on the LPGA tour this year came down to the very last hole of the season.  Jiyai Shin missed a chip by inches that would have made her the Player of the Year, and for the fourth year in a row that award went to Lorena Ochoa.  But though the mathematical way of determining this award is usually the best way, every once in a while, I believe the points don’t tell the correct story.  For instance, although Annika Sorenstam won the Player of the Year award in 1998, I will always believe that Se Ri Pak was the true Player of the Year that year (the AP agreed with me – they named Se Ri the Female Athlete of the Year that season).  The point system awards consistency, but that year, Sorenstam may have been more consistent, but both won four times, with Pak claiming two Majors (in three tries) and Sorenstam none.  To my mind, winning two Majors as a 20 year old rookie is far more impressive than making a few more top tens in second tier events.

Similarly, I believe in 2009 Shin was the Player of the Year and not Ochoa.  Think about all the things that had to happen in order for Ochoa to win.  If the season had been an event shorter, or two events shorter, or three, or four, Shin would have been POY.  The final two events were both events that favored the long hitting Ochoa; one took place at the course she grew up playing (!!), and was even named after her, and the other event took place in Houston, a place with a large Mexican contingent to cheer her on.  Rain soaked the course in Houston, making it play even more into Ochoa’s hands.  The event was shortened to 54 holes; had it been 36, Shin would have been POY.  Perhaps if it had gone 72, Shin would have rallied (as she had in round 2) and captured the crown.

But the result was even closer than that.  Had Shin made one more putt anytime during the week (and she had several lip outs), she would have been top player.  Had Ochoa missed just one more putt anywhere on the way, Shin would have won.  Exactly seven players needed to finish ahead of Shin to give Ochoa the trophy, and that’s exactly the number who finished ahead of Shin.  Had just one of those players had a bad day, Shin would have won.

Jiyai Shin

The problem with a point system becomes a little more glaring when things get this close.  This system doesn’t care if the field the player faces is tough or not.  A second place against a weak field means the same as a second against all the top players.  Most of the time, such trivialities make little difference, but in a season where literally every putt counted, they loom large.

Given that the ending was so close as to be essentially a tie, why do I give the award to Shin?  Let’s look at the whole picture.  First, let’s face it, this was not a year where Ochoa’s mind was primarily on golf.  She was focused on her impending marriage, and did not generally play to her top level most of the year.    Shin ended up making more money than Ochoa (playing three more tournaments), and easily won the most money on tour (a first for a Korean).  On the other hand, Ochoa’s scoring average was slightly better (but that, too, may have come down to her missing events where the scoring was tougher), and she just barely won the Player of the Year on points.  Ochoa had more second place finishes, four to Shin’s one, but Shin had more thirds, three to none for Lorena.  Both had eight top fives and three wins, and Lorena had one more top ten.  But Shin had a better overall record in the Majors this year.

Jiyai Shin at the HSBC Championship

All these facts show just how close things were between the two.  But I think what pushes Shin over the top is that fact that she hasn’t been doing this for the past seven years like Ochoa has.  She is a 20-21 year old rookie, playing most of these courses for the first time.  It was the first time she was away from home for any significant time, and she had to deal with a new culture, new language, and tons more travel than ever before.  She also played a lot more than just the LPGA events, appearing at 6 JLPGA events, an Australian tournament and one Korean tour event.  Given all that, and taking nothing away from Ochoa, who is the official and deserving LPGA Player of the Year, I would hand the award to Shin if there were a vote.

Hee Kyung Seo: From Supermodel to Major Queen

Hee Kyung Seo is one of Jiyai Shin’s best friends.  The two competed against each other for several years on the Korean tour.  When Shin left this year to play in America full-time, many believed this was Hee Kyung’s chance to at last step out of the shadow of her younger friend.  And indeed, she did just that, although there were several players who made sure it would not be an easy task for her.

Seo started her year in style, capturing two events early, including the year’s first Major, the Korean Women’s Open.  This was also her breakthrough Major win.  After that event, it looked like she would easily claim the top spot on tour.

Hee Kyung wins the Korean Women's Open

But a funny thing happened after that.  A younger gun caught fire, and after a few more events, Seo found herself in second place looking up.  That player was teenager So Yeon Ryu.  Ryu won four events, including three in a row at one stretch, to seize control of the money list and Player of the Year standings.  Seo wasn’t exactly playing badly, but she had cooled off considerably from her start.  As the tour went on summer break, the question of which player would be #1 hung over the tour.

Seo answered the question brilliantly soon after the tour resumed in August.  She just missed out winning the year’s second Major, the Shinsegae KLPGA Championship, finishing second.  In the year’s third Major, Seo and friend Ran Hong were locked in a tense seesaw battle for the title on Sunday, but in the end Hong blinked and Seo captured her second Major of the year.  Seo had another tough battle in the year’s final Major, the KB Star Tour Finale, this time with teen amateur Hana Jang.  But even though Jang hung in there until the end, Seo made the clutch putt she needed on the 17th hole to win her third Major.  Three Majors and a second in the fourth; a truly astonishing performance for the superstar.

The taste of victory! Hee Kyung Seo wins the Hite Cup

Seo's third Major win of the year at the KB Star Tour Finale

But despite all that, she still needed to do some work to put away Ryu to gain the upper hand in the major yearlong races.  This she did decisively by winning the year’s final event, the ADT-CAPS, her fifth title of the year and 11th of her career.  With that victory, she sealed the money list title and scoring title, having already won the Player of the Year at the previous event.

Hee Kyung with her fifth win of the year, the ADT-CAPS

You can bet that Hee Kyung Seo is starting to get noticed in a big way in Korea.  But her next big challenge will be to take her game out of the country and start winning and contending in more international events.  She played decently in Australia early in the year and had a couple of top 20s in LPGA events, but she is still looking for the breakthrough that will get her on sports pages in America and Japan.  Her intention in 2010 is to play in Korea while expanding her efforts elsewhere.  Her primary goal is to close in on the all time win record for the Korean tour, 20, but she will also be looking for a big moment overseas.

For Jiyai Shin, there are a few goals.  Now that she is more used to playing on the LPGA, she should be looking for more wins and more success in Majors.  But her top goal should be to continue to close the gap on Ochoa for the #1 ranking.  If she can do that, she will be the first Korean to ever achieve that ranking.  It will be fun to see if she can do it!

Faced with an almost insurmountable deficit as they started day 2 of the Kyoraku Cup, the Japanese team knew they would have to play fantastically just to save a little pride; beating the Koreans seemed almost out of the question.  Indeed, the home team did manage to beat the visitors on the day, and produced some memorable results in the process.  But in the end, there was little doubt what the outcome would be, and the expected did indeed come to pass, with Korea easily capturing the Cup for the first time in four years.

The day started promisingly for the Japanese squad.  It looked as though Jung Eun Lee would win the opening match until Yuri Fudoh made birdie to get the tie.  That got Korea within 4 points of the title, but that was still better than if Lee had won.  When Akiko Fukushima easily handled In Kyung Kim, 69-73, the inevitable was delayed a little longer.

Jung Eun Lee 5

The third match proved pivotal.  It pitted Japanese Captain Yuko Saito against KLPGA player Bo Mi Lee.  Lee had been one of only two Koreans to lose on day one, and had something to prove.  However, Saito climbed to an early lead, only to squander it with multiple bogies on the back nine.  Two down with two holes to play, Saito made eagle on the par 5 17^th.  But Lee matched that with her own eagle, then matched birdies with Saito on 18 to win by two strokes.  Now Korea needed only 2 more points for the Cup.

Bo Mi Lee

KLPGA star So Yeon Ryu was positioned to claim the pivotal points, but she lost her match to Yukari Baba by a stroke.  So it fell to Bo Bae Song to deal the death blow.  For a second straight day she played Miho Koga, and for the second straight day she shot a 68 to claim the win.  The Cup was Korea’s once again, and Bo Bae, the player I suggested on Thursday might be Korea’s secret weapon, would go on to win the MVP award for the tournament.

Bo Bae Song

Too bad for Japan that their best efforts of the week were for nothing, for their two biggest superstars produced amazing wins in the next two matches.  Sun Young Yoo went down to Sakura Yokomine despite shooting a 69, when the Korean Killer, as she is known, shot a blistering 8 under 65 thanks to 10 birdies and two bogies.  Ai Miyazato, in the next group, did even better, firing a 64 to crush Eun Ah Lim by 7.  Shinobu Moromizato also won, beating Korea’s top gun Jiyai Shin by two shots in the final match.

Sun Young Yoo

Jiyai Shin

It was a fantastic week for the Koreans, with everyone except Eun Ah Lim and Sun Young Yoo contributing at least a point (and Yoo only played one match).  On day two, the LPGAers were the definite weak links, with only Eun Hee Ji winning her match.  Fortunately, that didn’t matter, as the JLPGA Koreans won two of three matches and the KLPGAers added wins by Hee Kyung Seo and Bo Mi Lee to  Jung Eun Lee’s tie.

Eun Hee Ji

Hee Kyung Seo

Good job, everyone; enjoy your off season!!

Scores:

1	Tie	Jung Eun Lee 5	72		1	Tie	Yuri Fudoh	72	1
2	Loss	In Kyung Kim	73		0	Win	Akiko Fukushima	69	2
3	Win	Bo Mi Lee	70		2	Loss	Yuko Saito	72	0
4	Loss	So Yeon Ryu	73		0	Win	Yukari Baba	72	2
5	Win	Bo Bae Song	68		2	Loss	Miho Koga	70	0
6	Loss	Sun Young Yoo	69		0	Win	Momoko Ueda	65	2
7	Loss	Eun Ah Lim	71		0	Win	Ai Miyazato	64	2
8	Win	Mi Jeong Jeon	71		2	Loss	Sakura Yokomine	74	0
9	Win	Hee Kyung Seo	71		2	Loss	Chie Arimura	72	0
10	Win	Eun Hee Ji	71		2	Loss	Miki Saiki	75	0
11	Loss	Na Yeon Choi	72		0	Win	Ayako Uehara	71	2
12	Loss	Jiyai Shin	73		0	Win	Shinobu Moromizato	71	2
Round 1 Result		Korea		20	Round 1		Japan	4
Round 2 Result		Korea		11	Round 2		Japan	13
Total		Korea		31	Total		Japan	17

Day one of the Kyoraku Cup has been completed, and there is no other way to put it than this: it was a total rout.  The Korean team took no prisoners, and by the end of the day they had claimed 10 of the 12 matches for a prohibitive 20-4 lead.  They only need 25 points to win the Cup, meaning just two wins and a draw on day two.  It was perhaps the most dominating performance in the history of the Cup, all the more surprising given the strength of the Japanese team this year, playing on home soil.

The first round was a stroke play contest, and So Yeon Ryu got things off to a great start by defeating Yuri Fudoh 72-74 (this being a par 73 course, the scores to par were -1 and +1).  But perhaps the Japanese should have known things weren’t going their way when the second match finished.  This pitted Jung Eun Lee, winner of this year’s KLPGA Championship, against top veteran Akiko Fukushima.  Fukushima had a one shot lead with one hole to play, but Lee birdied the final hole, Fukushima bogied, and the win went to Korea.

The romp continued in match three.  Bo Bae Song, this year’s winner of the Japan Women’s Open, shot the low round of the day, a scintillating 7 under 66, to crush Miho Koga by 6 strokes.  I had mentioned in my preview that Song was perhaps Korea’s secret weapon, and she sure delivered on day one!  Fellow JLPGA stars Ji Hee Lee and Mi Jeong Jeon also won their matches, giving Korea the first five straight wins before Miki Saiki defeated Eun Ah Lim to put Japan on the board.

Bo Bae Song

Things were looking grim for Japan, but the key matches were the next two, as they featured Japan’s two biggest stars, Ai Miyazato and Sakura Yokomine.  Miyazato was paired against Eun Hee Ji, the US Women’s Open champ.  That Major victory had been a great win for Ji, but she has struggled since then, while Miyazato has been playing the best golf of her life.  But on this day, Ji still triumphed, gaining her first ever point in this competition by beating the native Okinawan by two.

Eun Hee Ji

The marquee match of the day pitted KLPGA superstar Hee Kyung Seo against top JLPGA player Sakura Yokomine.  Yokomine has the nickname ‘the Korean Killer’ for her tradition of beating all Korean competition in this tournament.  Yokomine played well, carding a 3 under 70, but nobody could stop Seo on this day.  She shot the second best score of the day, a 5 under 68, to beat Yokomine by two. 

Hee Kyung Seo

The next two matches showed just how badly the luck was turning against the Japanese.  Na Yeon Choi was pretty handily beating her opponent Yukari Baba when they reach the 18^th hole, a par 5.  Baba pitched her third shot to a couple feet, while Choi put her third well past the hole and off the green.  But Choi chipped in for birdie while Baba lipped out.  Another two points for Korea.

Then there was Jiyai Shin.  The superstar had only won once in four tries at this event, and with two holes to go, she was one of the few Koreans losing her match.  Down one to her opponent Ayako Uehara, the final two holes were par fives.  Shin nearly reached the green in two on 17 and made birdie to tie Uehara.  On 18, she hit her third shot from the rough to a foot for another birdie, while Uehara ran her birdie try past the hole.  Shin thus moved ahead on the final hole to capture the win and two more points.

Jiyai Shin

In Kyung Kim won her match to move Korea to 20 points before JLPGA star Shinobu Moromizato stopped Bo Mi Lee for only the second win for Japan (even there it wasn’t easy – Lee chipped in for birdie on 16 just like Choi had done on 18!).

Korea can’t afford to get complacent; they need to come out on Saturday and quickly get the job done.  But they can be proud of their amazing performance on Friday.  Good luck to them in their quest to regain the cup for the first time in four years!

Team Korea on day one

Scores:

1	Win	So Yeon Ryu	72		2	Loss	Yuri Fudoh	74	0
2	Win	Jung Eun Lee 5	73		2	Loss	Akiko Fukushima	74	0
3	Win	Bo Bae Song	66		2	Loss	Miho Koga	72	0
4	Win	Mi Jeong Jeon	72		2	Loss	Erina Hara	74	0
5	Win	Ji Hee Lee	68		2	Loss	Momoko Ueda	71	0
6	Loss	Eun Ah Lim	74		0	Win	Miki Saiki	71	2
7	Win	Eun Hee Ji	70		2	Loss	Ai Miyazato	72	0
8	Win	Hee Kyung Seo	68		2	Loss	Sakura Yokomine	70	0
9	Win	Na Yeon Choi	69		2	Loss	Yukari Baba	73	0
10	Win	Jiyai Shin	71		2	Loss	Ayako Uehara	72	0
11	Win	In Kyung Kim	70		2	Loss	Chie Arimura	72	0
12	Loss	Bo Mi Lee	71		0	Win	Shinobu Moromizato	67	2
Round 1 Result		Korea		20	Round 1		Japan	4

Every year for the last decade, the best woman golfers from Japan and the best from Korea have met in a team tournament.  The event is usually referred to as the Pinx Cup when it takes place in Korea and the Kyoraku Cup when it is in Japan.  This year’s edition, which takes place on December 4th and 5th, will be contested in Okinawa, and thus is referred to as the Kyoraku Cup.

Each day there are twelve singles matches pitting golfers from each team against each other.  The format of these matches has changed from time to time; some years, there is one round of stroke play and one of match play, while other years they have two match play matches.  Since there are 13 golfers on each team, one player sits out each round.

The teams have been chosen, and they are both well stocked with talented golfers.  The Korean squad always mixes golfers from the LPGA, KLPGA and JLPGA tours; this year, there are five from the LPGA and four from each of the other tours.  The Korean team is as follows:

From the LPGA: Jiyai Shin, In-Kyung Kim, Na Yeon Choi, Eun Hee Ji and Sun Young Yoo.
From the KLPGA: Hee Kyung Seo, So Yeon Ryu, Bo Mi Lee and Jung Eun Lee 5
From the JLPGA: Mi Jeong Jeon, Ji Hee Lee (team captain), Bo Bae Song and Eun Ah Lim

Team Korea

The Japanese squad has the following golfers:
Yuri Fudoh, Akiko Fukushima, Ai Miyazato, Shinobu Moromizato, Sakura Yokomine, Momoko Ueda, Yuko Saito (captain), Miki Saiki, Miho Koga, Erina Hara, Yukari Baba, Ayako Uehara, Chie Arimura

Team Japan

The Japanese squad seems particularly strong this year.  Ai Miyazato got her first win on the LPGA tour this year, and has played very well since then.  She will be playing on her home island, adding to her advantage.  Yokomine won 6 times on the JLPGA tour this year and was the leading money winner; Moromizato has also had a fantastic year.  Fukushima and Fudoh are veterans with a great record in this event. 

By contrast, the Koreans have a lot of strong golfers, but a lot of them have either not played this event before or have not done well in past years.  Of the LPGA golfers, for instance, Yoo and In Kyung Kim have never played, and Choi, Shin and Ji have only won one match combined.  For the KLPGA golfers, none of them have played before (although Ryu and Seo were scheduled to play last year before bad weather canceled the event).  The Japanese squad may be the favorite this year.

Hee Kyung Seo

On the other hand, the Koreans do have several strong weapons.  Ryu won the KLPGA’s Match Play title this year and is tough at that format.  Shin is the top ranked player from either team in the event, and Choi is playing extremely well right now.  Inky had a great record at the Lexus Cup a few years ago, and Seo is white hot thanks to dominating the KLPGA this year.  The secret weapon may be BB Song, who not only won her first LPGA event this year (the Mizuno Classic) but also took the Japan Women’s Open, a Major on the JLPGA.  Not only is she playing well, but she is used to playing in Japan.

This year's Captains: Ji Hee Lee and Yuko Saito

The first day’s match ups look like this:

1.(9:30) So Yeon Ryu vs. Yuri Fudoh
2.(9:39) Jung Eun Lee 5 vs. Akiko Fukushima
3.(9:48) Bo Bae Song vs. Miho Koga
4.(9:57) Mi Jeon Jeong vs. Erina Hara
5.(10:06) Ji Hee Lee vs. Momoko Ueda
6.(10:15) Eun Ah Lim vs. Miki Saiki
7.(10:24) Eun Hee Ji vs. Ai Miyazato
8.(10:33) Hee Kyung Seo vs. Sakura Yokomine
9.(10:42) Na Yeon Choi vs. Yukari Baba
10.(10:51) Jiyai Shin vs. Ayako Uehara
11.(11:00) In Kyung Kim vs. Chie Arimura
12.(11:09) Bo Mi Lee vs. Shinobu Moromizato

Pay special attention to the first match, between Ryu, the youngest member of Team Korea, and wily veteran Fudoh.  Seo vs. Yokomine pits the top two players from their respective tours and could be a fantastic battle.

Good luck to Team Korea!!!

Team Korea

Second year player Ae Ri Pyun entered the final round of the KLPGA’s final event with a slim two shot lead over the top player on tour, Hee Kyung Seo.  Seo was in perfect position to secure not just the money title and best scoring average on tour, but perhaps to win her league leading 5th event in 2009 and 11th in her amazing career.  Would Pyun be able to stop her?

Hee Kyung Seo

Pyun had a perfectly fine round, no bogies, no birdies, for a 72.  Earlier in the week, when the conditions were brutal, a score like that might have been enough to get the job done.  But on Sunday, scoring seemed to be much better across the board, and Pyun would wind up third with a 2 under total.

As it turned out, two players were having fantastic days on Sunday: Hee Kyung and Jung Eun Lee 5.  Between them, they had won all four Majors in 2009, Lee winning the one Major that escaped Seo’s grasp, the Shinsegae KLPGA Championship.  Lee started the day at 2 over, but birdies on three of her first four holes moved her quickly to 1 under.  She made two more birdies and a bogey to close the front nine at 2 under, tied with Pyun for the lead.

Jung Eun Lee 5

Seo started with pars, but when she caught fire, she did so in a major way.  She birdied 8 and made eagle 2 on the par 4 9th to move to 3 under and the lead.  Lee birdied 10 to join Seo at 3 under.  The tense battle continued for a few more holes.

Hee Kyung Seo

Then the KLPGA’s Major Queen did what she does so well: put the hammer down.  She made three straight birdies from holes 13-15 to zoom to 6 under total.  Lee, meanwhile, bogied 15 to fall to 2 under.  Suddenly, Seo had a four shot lead.  As you can imagine, the rest was just a formality, and shortly thereafter, Hee Kyung Seo was again the ADT-CAPS champion.

Hee Kyung does it again!

Hee Kyung Seo’s 2009 season was a fabulous piece of work.  She collected five wins, including three Majors, won Player of the Year, the scoring title, and the money list.  She won coming from behind repeatedly, and almost deserves the nickname ‘Final Round Queen’ as much as Jiyai Shin herself.  Congratulations to her on her amazing achievements, and good luck to her in whatever she decides to pursue next year and beyond!

Hee Kyung Seo

Scores:
1. Hee Kyung Seo 73-71-66 -6
2. Jung Eun Lee 5 73-73-67 -3
3. Ae Ri Pyun 69-73-72 -2
4. Kyeong Bae 73-77-68 +2
5. Bo Mi Suh 80-71-69 +4
Soo Jin Yang (R) 78-68-74 +4

Notables:
10. So Yeon Ryu 74-77-71 +6
12. Ji Na Lim 73-80-70 +7
Young Ran Jo 74-74-75 +7
18. Bo Kyung Kim 77-74-73 +8
Ran Hong 77-72-75 +8
24. Bo Mee Lee 78-76-70 +9
Ha Neul Kim 78-74-73 +9
Bobea Park 74-77-74 +9
27. Hyun Hee Moon 79-77-70 +10
30. Shin Ae Ahn (R) 80-77-71 +12
39. Seon Hwa Lee 2 (R) 77-80-74 +15
48. Aram Cho 79-80-75 +18
51. He Yong Choi 81-80-74 +19
HJ Choi 85-75-75 +19
58. Hye In Lee 87-79-74 +24