After tying the lead with Sung Ah Yim in first round action with a 64 and then taking a three-stroke lead on Saturday, Soo-Yun Kang certainly must have felt confident entering into the final round of the Safeway Classic. She sure looked at ease, smiling her way through eighteen holes and rarely missing a step. Her nerves only showed a bit halfway through her round and then again on the eighteenth as she missed her par putt and bogeyed in to win four strokes ahead of Jeong Jang.
Soo-Yun Kang is the fifth Korean to win on the LPGA Tour this year. With a wire-to-wire win after three full seasons playing golf among the best females on tour the 29-year old feels even more “Seoul-ful” with a 3-under 69 finish. Drenched in champagne by friends Birdie Kim and Gloria Park, Kang shrieked with delight. “I waited so long, for the past three years. I thought about it I guess like I was in a slump for three years and I worked really hard on it.”
Kang’s best finish to date this season was at the Safeway International in March. Heading into the final round, Kang was a single shot behind Lorena Ochoa and wound up in a tie for third with veteran Juli Inkster. Annika Sorenstam was in that Safeway Tournament on Superstition Mountain and won in a playoff with Ochoa. Prior to playing on the LPGA Tour, Kang was the top money leader for two years on the KLPGA Tour.
Struggling to gain ground on Kang, Jeong Jang hit hard and strong early in the final round scoring four birdies. The 2005 British Open champion saw her birdies fly away with two bogeys on the back nine, unable to challenge Kang in the later holes. But Jeong Jang has had a great year finally breaking through with a major victory after five years playing on tour. The 25-year old is currently sixth on the ADT Official Money List with $744K right beneath Natalie Gulbis.
The South Korean contingency is strong on the LPGA tour. Today’s final scoreboard showed six of the top ten players were Korean. The top five players on the leaderboard were all Korean. They know and respect each other and enjoy playing against each other, even in pressure-cooker championship events. Sharing a common nationallity allows them to form a bond they may not share over in Korea where women’s rights are not as equal as in the States.
Jang versus Kang: A Friendly Battle of the Korean Superstars
Five-foot tall Jeong Jang is, pound-for-pound, one of the longer and more accurate drivers of the golf ball on tour. Her average driving distance was about 235 yards this week, about 5 yards further than Kang’s average drive and twelfth in driving accuracy. She is also tied for third in number of birdies for the 2005 season. Kang’s accuracy record for the season is only 53rd on tour and she is tied for 70th place in number of birdies made. Today’s victory wasn’t based on statistics. Kang’s confidence and a three-stroke lead carried her through the final eighteen holes where Jang tried to play catch-up and failed.
Gloria Park also made the Safeway an interesting golf tournament. Despite medical setbacks including tendonitis and tennis elbow Park played valiantly through the three day tournament beginning the day just three-strokes behind the leader but slipping to a five-stroke deficit by the end of the day.
Beth Daniel, one of the more “seasoned” veterans on tour finished played well enough to finish in a tie for fifth place with Sung Ah Yim. Daniel became a rookie on tour in 1979 and hasn’t won a tournament since 2003 when she conquered the BMO Financial Group Canadian Women’s Open. Her best finish this year was a tie for ninth place at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. It’s nice to see Beth climbing the leaderboard and showing that veterans still make a showing at LPGA tournaments.
Let’s also give a “high-five” to Rosie Jones who had a first round score of 65 and hung on for a top-ten finish this week. Her up-and-down round included an eagle on the fifth which she gave back on the eighth with a double-bogey. Jones steadied out on the back-nine to finish at even par. Rosie has played well this season. Out of thirteen starts she has six top-ten finishes and reached well over the $500K mark in earnings. This is the home stretch for Jones as she has decided to retire at the end of the 2005 season. I think she would be great on television as a reporter during a championship. Jones is very outspoken and knows her way around a golf course. Perhaps that’s her next “course” of action.
Natalie Gulbis secured yet another top-ten finish this week even though she finished one-stroke over par for the tournament. Tied with seven other players with a 5-under par for the weekend, Gulbis had a mediocre back-nine with pars on all holes except the eighteenth which she bogeyed.
Defending champion Hee-Won Han (75) secured a tenth place finish despite the three bogeys she made throughout her round and double-bogey she fired on the fourteenth hole. With only five tournaments left on the LPGA schedule, time is running out for Han to secure a victory this season.
Karrie Webb’s three wood and driver were broken enroute to the Safeway and she had to purchase two new clubs “off the rack”. Despite her setback, Webb tied for 18th position although the 75 she posted today was unmemorable. What was interesting was her lack of concentration. On the 12th hole Webb grabbed a camera out of a photographer’s hands.
Paula Creamer shared 33rd place with seven other players including Charlotta Sorenstam (yes, Annika’s sister). With a first round score of 67 I surely thought Creamer would improve over the following two days but instead she posted two rounds of 74. Paula is doing superbly for her rookie season. You can’t win them all. Look for Paula on the Solheim Cup when she proudly represents the United States team.
Cristie Kerr never made it to Sunday. The fourth player on the money list missed the cut on Saturday along with Carin Koch.
Pos Player Today Tot R1 R2 R3 1 Soo-Yun Kang -3 -15 64 68 69 2 Jeong Jang -2 -11 67 68 70 3 Gloria Park -1 -10 67 68 71 4 Joo Mi Kim -1 -8 69 68 71 T5 Beth Daniel -2 -7 68 71 70 T5 Sung Ah Yim E -7 64 73 72 T7 Pat Hurst -1 -6 67 72 71 T7 Rosie Jones E -6 65 73 72 T7 Amy Hung E -6 67 71 72
Photo Credit: © AP.