‘Their whole life revolves around golf’

Sports

Related Photos

Tom Waddill

Discussion

November 5, 2009

South Korea is dominating the LPGA Tour. Is the PGA next in line?

Frank Krystyniak The Huntsville Item Thu Nov 05, 2009, 10:54 PM CST

Quick. Who’s the leading money winner on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour this week?

If you said Ji-Yai Shin, you either cheated or need to get a life other than an abnormal fascination for golf statistics.

The fact is that South Korean women have pretty much taken over the LPGA Tour. Of the top 30 money winners this week, 12 were born in South Korea.

The question is “Why?,” or perhaps “How?.”

Korea’s Hyo-Joo Kim has seven birdies in her first two rounds at The Spirit International Golf Tournament, being played this week at Whispering Pines. She’s tied for third in the individual women’s competition behind the USA’s Lexi Thompson at nine. Three others have eight.

Kim said she began hitting balls at her father’s friend’s driving range when she was six.

“Very hard training,” was her response to why Koreans dominate the women’s tour. She practices nine hours a day, she said through her coach/interpreter, Min-Seok Koo.

“She wants to be professional,” Koo said. “She wants to play LPGA.”

Paula Creamer, the LPGA player who is the USA team’s non-playing captain, competes against the Koreans at every tournament. Creamer ranked 10th in LPGA money this week, with three Koreans, including Shin, ahead of her.

“They’re good players,” Creamer said. “They practice a lot. Their whole life revolves around golf.”

Creamer also believes that there are fewer “distractions” for Korean athletes. While we have football, baseball and basketball as major sports and many others as semi-majors, Koreans are pretty well focused on baseball and soccer and their relatively newfound interest in golf.

That interest started for the women in 1998 when Se-Ri Pak won the U.S. Women’s Open. Some have gone so far as to say that after that event golf became a national pastime there. Pak still plays on the LPGA Tour at the age of 32, is now in the World Golf Hall of Fame and this week ranked 29th in earnings.

Some have studied the question even harder than a few random interviews. The Samsung Economic Research Institute concluded that the keys to Korean success are full-time parental support, Confucian self-restraint and the financial backing of corporations.

“All work and no play may make Jack a dull boy,” said SERI researcher Min-Hoon Lee. “But that is not the case for Korean female golfers. They are workhorses who pay attention only to golf.

“For instance, Ji-Yai Shin got over the misery of losing her mother in a car accident through playing golf harder and harder. That is the secret of her success.”

The Korean golfer at The Spirit tournament who is most fluent in English is Bum-Geun Chae. He’s in fifth place in birdies among the men with seven. He didn’t mince words in assessing the Koreans’ strengths.

“Good concentration. Patience. Practice a lot,” he said.

He also hopes to play here as a professional on the men’s tour but believes he needs “more experience.” He only started when he was 13, is now 18, and for the last two years “practiced hard.”

“I didn’t play for a long time compared to the others,” he said.

Then again, neither did Y. E. Yang, who took up the game when he was 19. This August at the age of 37, Yang did the unthinkable and seemingly impossible, defeating Tiger Woods for the PGA Championship with Woods leading going into the final round.

Some speculate that what Pak did for women’s golf in Korea, Yang’s win will do for Korean men.

People woke up before dawn to watch the PGA’s final round, including president Myung-Bak Lee, who later called Yang to offer his congratulations. Driving ranges were filled before work that Monday morning.

One golf tour conquered, one to go.

Text Only

Sports

Bigger, faster and stronger, Hornets can’t wait to kick off 2012 football campaign
This spring, the Hornets have overhauled their offensive plans and head coach Shane Martin, his assistant coaches, and most importantly, the players are pumped about the changes they’ve made.

May 26, 2012 3 Photos
Schallenberg: Kats now hoping résumé speaks for itself
Despite one of the best seasons in school and Southland Conference history, all the Bearkats can do now is watch scoreboards, wait and hope for the best.

May 26, 2012
The thrill of victory ... the agony of defeat
The Bearkats knew exactly what they needed to get done and they were up to the task.
In order to reach championship day of the Southland Conference Baseball Tournament, the Kats would have to stave off elimination twice just to get to today’s final round.
The Bearkats nearly pulled it off.

May 25, 2012 2 Photos
Kats beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4-3
May 25, 2012
Alive and kicking: Bearkats still in hunt at SLC baseball tourney
With the possibility of going home early from the Southland Conference Tournament and a chance of their season coming to an abrupt end, the Bearkats needed some quality starting pitching and production from their bats in the worst way.
Like he has done all year long, Sam Houston senior Justin Jackson delivered a lights-out performance on the mound and the offense made the kind of impact the Bearkats have been looking for Thursday morning.
Both elements came together at the exact right time as the Kats stayed alive in the tourney with a 7-1 victory over McNeese State in an elimination game at Bobcat Ballpark.

May 24, 2012
Bad day for Bearkats
The Bearkats’ road to the NCAA tournament just got a little bit tougher.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi broke out for four runs before top-seeded Sam Houston even stepped to the plate Wednesday afternoon, but the Kats couldn’t find a way to counter that first punch.
Sam Houston connected for eight hits, but could not get enough of those in a row to make a dent in the deficit and are now one loss away from being eliminated from the Southland Conference tournament following a 9-2 loss at the hands of the eighth-seeded Islanders on Wednesday afternoon at the Bobcat Baseball Ballpark.

May 23, 2012
Schallenberg: Time is now for Bearkats in Southland tourney
The Bearkats look to take care of business this week in the Southland Conference baseball tournament.

May 20, 2012 1 Photo
Alpha Omega Academy trio shine at state track meet
Freshman brings home four medals, including two golds

May 19, 2012
Tough night for Kats against Rice
The Bearkats had a golden opportunity to make a lasting impression for a potential at-large bid in the NCAA tournament with fifth-ranked Rice coming to town. Sam Houston’s bats couldn’t get going early enough or be able to link enough hits together against the Owls pitching staff and succumbed to a 5-0 loss in the final game of the season at Don Sanders Stadium on Tuesday night.

May 16, 2012 2 Photos
BEARKAT BASEBALL — Plenty up for grabs against fifth-ranked Rice
For several reasons, today’s game against fifth-ranked Rice is going to be a biggie for the Bearkats.

May 14, 2012 1 Photo
More Sports Headlines

Sports

Search Results

Related Photos

Discussion

‘Their whole life revolves around golf’

South Korea is dominating the LPGA Tour. Is the PGA next in line?

Site Map

Contact Us