[Golf] Shin Eyeing Last Event on Japanese Tour

Golfer Shin Ji-yae is still hungry in what is proving to be the best season in her career.

The 20-year-old left for Korea immediately after she won the ADT Championship, the final event of the LPGA season ending Monday. She won one million dollars in prize money and a gold putter as a bonus.

She left Florida for New York and arrived at Incheon International Airport early yesterday morning and moved to Miyazaki, Japan, via Fukuoka.

Via four flight transfers, she rushed to join the Ricoh Cup Championship, the last major tournament of Japan`s tour, that starts tomorrow.

If Shin wins in Miyazaki, she will have swept all of the three major tour titles along with ones in Korea and the United States.

She achieved the first grand slam in Korean history by winning the Korea Women’s Open, the Korean LPGA and the fourth round of the KB Star Tour. She also claimed the Women’s British Open.

Since she won the last major tournaments of the year - the fourth round of the KB Star Tour and the Women’s British Open - she seeks to add the last tournament of the Japanese tour.

Shin will play in her 36th tournament this year, but said, "The time difference does not matter to me because I fall asleep right away when I get on a plane."

A hundred million yen (one million dollars) is at stake at the tournament and the winner will claim 25 million yen (250,000 dollars). Shin has even appeared in posters as a strong candidate with two titles and three second-place finishes this season in Japan.

Lee Jee-hee, who is leading in prize money in the Japanese tour, is also drawing attention. She has earned 101.79 million yen (1 million dollars), ahead of Sakura Yokomine of Japan (118 million yen or 1.18 million dollars), and the winner will be decided in the last tournament.

Previous Korean champions of this tournament include Goo Ok-hee (1991), Lee Yeong-mi (1998) and Goh Woo-soon (2002).

kjs0123@donga.com