A Chance to Get Even At Home
Ive still got a lot to learn compared to Ochoa. The expectations are overwhelming, but Im playing in Korea, so I will try to perform even better than before.
Shin Ji-ae (19, Himart) will be playing at the LPGA tour Hana Bank-Kolon Championship 2007 at Mauna Ocean golf course (Par 72) in Gyeongju. In recent times, her playing style has frequently been compared to that of Lorena Ochoa (26, Mexico).
Shin Ji-ae has won seven tours in Korea and has earned more than $500,000 in prize money the greatest amount ever earned by a player in one season.
Ochoa also won seven LPGA tours and set a record for prize money earned in a season, winning more than $3 million.
Both star golfers are long hitters averaging over 270 yards with the driver, and at the same time, they both boast exceptionally accurate short games.
Shin Ji-ae also added that she had a lot of opportunities to watch Ochoa in action during the playoffs, and that she truly looked up to Ochoas approach shots and her courage to go for par saves, even during times of crisis that required a bogie.
In all six LPGA tours in which Shin Ji-ae has participated, she has never outranked Ochoa. The closest she came was in July, during the Evian Masters, where she took 3rd place along with Ochoa.
In front of a home crowd, Shin is determined to beat Ochoa for the first time.
The last time she played in this tour, when she ranked 4th, she learned a valuable lesson.
You have to adjust to the cold climate and the wind. There are very few easy holes, so you have to hit as few bogies as you can, She said.
Since 2002, the tour has been the stage of numerous Cinderella games for Korean golfers. For five consecutive years, Korean golfers have won the tour and earned the right to compete in the U.S.
With Ochoa, Susan Petersen (Norway) and Christie Kerr (USA), among other international big names set to compete, the LPGA tour Hana Bank-Kolon Championship 2007 promises to be an exciting tour which will be anyones game.
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