Strong Korean Presence in LPGA, “Halted”

The `Korean Storm` on the LPGA tour in the U.S. has seen a brief respite.

On May 9, the first round of the Asahi Ryokuken International Championship was held at Mount Vintage Plantation Golf Club (par72) in North Augusta, South Carolina, USA with a total award amount of 1.3 million dollars.

Park Ji Eun (Nike Golf) who was aiming at consecutive wins for 2 weeks and Pak Se Ri (CJ) who challenged the three-time champion in the season stayed in the middle level, both marking 60th place with 1 over par at 73.

However, the two golfers will still be able to catch up with the top-leader group because both are skilled at collecting hits, and as this championship is a 4-round event, more chances are open to excel.

The golfer with the best score among the 14 golfers in the `Korean Corps` was Han Hee Won (Fila Korea) who ranked 13th with 2 under par at 70. She is followed by Park Hee Jeong (CJ) and Koh Ara (High Mart), who marked 26th place with 1 under par at 71. Kang Soo Yun (Astra), Chang Jeong (23) and Lee Jung Yeon (Hankook Tire) placed 46th with 72. Kim Mi Hyun (KTF), Kim Young (Shinsegae) and Kim Cho Rong (19) marked 83th place with 2 over par at 74, and are in danger of the cut off.

This is the first time that not a single player in the `Korean Corps` was included in the top 10 in the first round of this year`s season since the 8th golf championship. On the other hand, golfer Rosie Jones (44 years old) from the U.S. and Sophie Gustafson (from Sweden) ranked in the top together with 6 under par at 66. Eight golfers including Rosie Jones joined the top 10 and have heard positive encouragement from the crowds for quite some time.

Young-Sik Ahn ysahn@donga.com