Photo by REUTERS/Brian Snyder (c) Action Images.

Meet the Korean women trying to qualify for the LPGA Tour in 2007.

Some are 18-year-old phenoms just starting their careers. Some are longtime pros still trying to find their way. Their stories may be quite different, but they all share a common goal: They all want to succeed on the top women’s golf tour in the world. And it all could begin at the 2006 Qualifying School.  

In October and November of every year, the Ladies Professional Golf Association holds its annual Q-School. Golfers from all over the world come to America to compete for a spot on the LPGA Tour. The process of qualifying consists of two parts: two sectional qualifying tournaments and a final. The top 30 golfers from each sectional advance to the finals, where a small number of women will win full exemption onto the LPGA Tour in 2007. Although all of these women are aiming for the same thing, each has arrived to this point in a markedly different way.

The Young Guns  

The LPGA’s minimum age limit is 18; for 2006, several 18-year-old Koreans are attempting to earn their tour cards. For starters, there is In-Kyung Kim who played on the Korean National Golf Team from 2003 to 2004. She first came to America in the summer of 2005 and trained at the International Junior Golf Academy in South Carolina. A few months after arriving, she played in three amateur tournaments in America and won all of them. She then participated in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, one of the most important tournaments in the country for girls 17 and younger. Kim worked her way through the field, eventually meeting In-Bee Park—another prominent young player—in the finals. Although Park had won the tournament in the past, it was Kim who dominated on this day, winning the championship 5 and 4.  

Kim returned to the States in 2006 to train full-time at the Illinois Junior Golf Association and now aims to become an LPGA pro. She got off to a great start at the first sectional tournament, finishing tied for fourth and easily advancing to the finals. She then played the FUTURES Tour Q-School, which takes place a few weeks before the LPGA Q-School finals. She was paired in the final group on day 4 with Paige Mackenzie, one of America’s top college golfers. Mackenzie seemed to have the medalist honors in hand when she birdied five straight holes on the back nine to take a three-shot lead. But showing a lot of moxie, Kim birdied two of her final three holes while Mackenzie bogeyed two, giving Kim the victory by one stroke, and just in time: her student visa was expiring that very day, and she needed to leave the country to get it renewed.  

There’s another 18-year-old Korean National Golf Team golfer with an even lower profile in the States than In-Kyung Kim. Ji-Young Oh came to the States early in 2006 and enrolled at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy. She played on the Future Collegians World Tour (FCWT), a second-tier junior golf league. Her results were extraordinary, playing in events and winning them all. But she didn’t just win, she dominated the field. Her average victory margin was an astonishing 7.5 strokes. At the season-ending FCWT Championship, Oh won by a startling 12 strokes. Thanks to results like these, Golfweek magazine named Oh the top amateur woman golfer in the country.  

At the California Sectional Qualifying Tournament, Oh finished at 1 under par. It was the first time Oh had lost but not by much: She ended up tying for second place, and at the FUTURES Tour Q-School, she tied for third. At both of these tournaments, she was playing against not only amateur stars but also top college players and seasoned pros, and she still beat almost all of them handily. Should Oh and Kim advance to the LPGA in 2007, they will join fellow 18-year-old Koreans In-Bee Park and Song Hee Kim.

The College Kids  

Some Korean and Korean American golfers decide to spend a few years honing their games in college before trying their luck with professional ranks. Among the 2007 LPGA hopefuls is former USC player Irene Cho, who won the 2006 Honda Award as the top collegiate female golfer. But perhaps the strongest collegiate candidate for the LPGA is Korean American Jane Park, one of UCLA’s top collegiate players. Park burst onto the national golf scene as a 16-year-old when she finished 30th at the 2003 U.S. Women’s Open. She continued her great summer by finishing as runner-up that year at the U.S. Women’s Amateur after beating Paula Creamer in the semifinals. The following summer, Park won that title—arguably the most important in women’s amateur golf.  

Park’s career took a small dip in 2005 during her freshman year at UCLA. She missed the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open. But in the summer of 2006, she experienced a renaissance. This time she played brilliantly at the U.S. Women’s Open, contending for the title much of the week and finishing tied for low amateur in 10th place. She later capped her amateur career in August, 2006, by leading the United States to a resounding victory over Great Britain and Ireland at the Curtis Cup. Park left UCLA following her freshman year with aspirations of turning pro. With her game back to its top level, she is a good bet to reach the tour in 2007.

KLPGA Hopefuls  

The Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association, or KLPGA, has been a great source of LPGA stars during the past few years. Three promising KLPGA players are attempting to earn their LPGA cards at the 2006 Q-School: Hyun-Hee Moon, Eun-Hee Ji and Hae-Jung Kim. Currently, the strongest player of the three is Hyun-Hee Moon. Her older brother also plays golf and is a professional on the Korean PGA Tour. Moon herself turned pro in 2003 as a 20-year-old and joined the KLPGA the following year. In 2006, she really stepped up her game. After making top 10s in five of her first six KLPGA events, Moon nearly won the Lake Hills Classic. She led the event for most of the week before falling to Korean tour superstar Hee-Young Park. But just four events later, Moon once again found herself in a pitched battle for a title—this time against the top player on the KLPGA tour, Ji-Yai Shin. The pair switched off leading the Hite Cup Championship virtually the entire week and wound up in a play-off. But it was Moon, not Shin, who won on the second hole; a victory that moved her to third on the KLPGA money list.  

Moon then played in the LPGA California Sectional, shooting a 69 in the third round to capture the lead and surviving an up-and-down final round to win. In the process, she beat such players as In-Kyung Kim, Ji-Young Oh and Jane Park. “I was very nervous today, but now I am so happy,” Moon said afterward. “I will go back to Korea to play some KLPGA events and then come back to get ready for the final (Qualifying School).”

The Veterans  

Not every golfer at Q-School is a young player on her way up; some are veterans still looking to succeed on the LPGA. Min Sun “Minny” Yeo, for instance, began playing golf at the age of 13. She started out playing mini-tours in Southern California but eventually earned nonexempt status at Q-School for the 2000 LPGA season. In her first few seasons, Yeo struggled, earning only a few thousand dollars. Each year, however, she returned to Q-School and regained conditional status for the following year. Unfortunately, each year she regained her status she did not make enough money to keep it. In 2003, Yeo failed to earn any card at all, and at age 31 it looked like her career on the LPGA might be over. But Minny Yeo was determined to pursue her dream.   

“I’m good enough to be out here,” Yeo said to the press after failing to earn a card. “I want to win, and I will. I will. It’s just a matter of time. I know how good I am.”  

This time around Minny Yeo again appeared at LPGA Q-School. She did not advance in the California Sectional but played the Florida one and finished tied for 30th, the last spot that allowed her to advance to the finals.

The Results

The 2006 LPGA Q-School took place from November 29th through December 3rd at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.  Teenage phenom In-Kyung Kim took home a share of the title and, more importantly, exempt status for the 2007 season. The 18-year-old Kim surged to the lead in round one and led or co-led most of the way, finishing in a tie with Hye-Jung Choi at 13 under par.  Ji-Young Oh started the week slowly before rallying to finish in 9th place and securing a spot on the LPGA.  Irene Cho played solidly all week, finishing in 10th place and also earning full status for 2007.  Jane Park, however, hovered just out of the top fifteen much of the week, and finished at one over par, just two shots out of exempt status.  She will be one of the top-ranked conditional players in 2007, which should allow her to play in 12 events.  A second round 77 knocked KLPGA star Hyun-Hee Moon down to conditional status as well.  Minny Yeo’s comeback attempt fell short; she missed the four-day cut and failed to earn a tour card for 2007.

  - Eric Fleming is the editor of SeoulSisters.com, a Web site dedicated to the Korean Women’s Golf phenomenon.