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The 2008 U.S. WomenĄŻs Open kicking off Thursday night Korean time at the Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minnesota can rightfully be called a U.S.-Korea womenĄŻs open. Forty-five or nearly 30 percent of the 156 competing players are ethnic Koreans, including some with U.S. and Brazilian nationalities.
Seventy-one were qualified by the United States Golf Association and eighty-five won the ticket to compete from the 1,236 who fought in the preliminaries. Korean players include Pak Se-ri, who won the 1998 title in the play-offs, 2005 champion Birdie Kim (Kim Ju-yun) and those on the U.S. LPGA tour such as Kim Mi-hyun and Grace Park (Park Ji-eun). Shin Ji-yai and Ahn Sun-ju of the Korea LPGA and Jeon Mi-jeong of the Japanese LPGA will also compete. Teen star Michelle Wie, apparently out of her slump, has also won a ticket.
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Footage from 2008 U.S. WomenĄŻs Open official website. /Courtesy of United States Golf Association (USGA)
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Of the 27 amateur players, nine are Korean. Several of them are Korean Americans, including Kimberly Kim, who won the 2006 U.S. WomenĄŻs Amateur USGA championship as the youngest ever player -- she was just about to turn 15 at the time -- plus 2006 U.S. Girls' Junior champ Jenny Shin (20) and last year's winner of the same tournament Kristen Park (15) -- all players whose talent has been recognized in U.S. amateur games.
Korea-based players are Jennifer Song (Song Min-young), who finished second at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links on Sunday, and Chang Ha-na (16 - Daewon Foreign Language High School), who advanced to the final four in last year's U.S. WomenĄŻs Amateur championship. Song scored a joint 39th in last year's U.S. Women's Open, the highest of all amateur players.
Launched in 1946, the U.S. WomenĄŻs Open is the second major event in this season's U.S. LPGA with US$3.1 million in prize money, of which $560,000 goes to the winner. The competition course is notorious for the longest and deepest rough and the fastest green in the tournament history. Yet amid all the Koreans, Lorena Ochoa of Mexico, famous for her long and accurate shots, is the favorite.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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