Korean golfers receiving notice

Adam Candee

Tuesday, April 15, 2003 | 10:06 a.m.

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Hee-Won Han likes -- no, absolutely loves -- Monday practice rounds on the LPGA Tour. Feed her piles of range balls and line up endless 10-footers on the Las Vegas Country Club practice green.

Any of it is better than scrapping for a tournament spot in another blasted Monday qualifier.

"That kind of situation was very tough for me," Han said Monday through her interpreter.

Yet Han, a 24-year-old Korean, persevered in 2001, trudging through endless Mondays after grueling Sundays, ignoring her non-exempt status to win Rookie of the Year honors. She returned in 2002 with seven top-10 finishes.

Such success is the hallmark of the LPGA's burgeoning crop of Korean-born golfers, a group that has grown from none in 1997 to 18 this year. Many are taking part in this week's LPGA Takefuji Classic, which tees off Thursday morning at LVCC.

Their pioneer, Se Ri Pak, earned acclaim as a high school track star in her native Daejeon, Korea, before becoming the only Korean-born LPGA player in 1998. Little did Pak know she was blazing a trail that allowed her fellow Koreans to join the tour.

"When I started golf, I watched the LPGA tour on TV," Jung Yeon Lee said Monday. "When I saw that, I said, 'Wow, I want to be like that.'

"Se Ri gave us much good advice."

Lee, 24, won $109,915 in her LPGA rookie year in 2002, yet she stood next to the LVCC practice green keenly aware of just how valuable a couple of hundred bucks can be. On the Futures Tour in 2001, Lee finished third on the farm league money list and earned her first tour card by that pittance of a sum.

It is all about striving and grinding a difficult trail, from the rye grass courses of Korea to 76th place on the money list. Lee's journey began through family, as it does for many Korean golfers.

"My dad played golf, so sometimes I would follow him to the driving range and hit a few balls, and I loved it," Lee said.

The family ties continue in America. Han's father watched over her swing Monday afternoon on the range, and she still travels with both her parents. Lee's mother accompanies her on tour, and her father comes from Korea every three to four weeks.

On tour, however, the close-knit Asian families came as a jolt to some players.

"I want to try and be nice because people see Asian players and think they don't smile," Lee said. "I try to smile and be nice because many players complain about our parents. Different cultures look different."

Those family ties eased the cultural and sporting transition for many Korean golfers, as did the camaraderie between players.

"We played together in Korea, so we know each other very well," Lee said, adding that she and Han attended high school together in Seoul.

Adjusting to American food also proved challenging. Lee's mother still occasionally prepares traditional Korean kimchi (a fermented cabbage dish with fish and radishes), although her daughter has acquired a taste for American food.

"I like burgers," Lee said. "But not many times."

Many times is the frequency of success for Korean golfers in the LPGA, despite the challenges. Three of the past five Rookies of the Year are Korean, and Korean players have won 29 tournaments since 1998 -- 18 by Pak. It is a testament to the boom of women's golf halfway around the world, Lee said.

"Every Korean junior golfer wants to play on the LPGA tour," she said.

Strom show a 4-under-par 68 and Kang won a three-way playoff for the second spot after shooting 72. She defeated Vicki Fergon and UNLV's Sunny Oh by making an eagle on the first playoff hole, the par-5 10th. When I saw that, I said, 'Wow, I want to be like that.' Se Ri (Pak) gave us much good advice."