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<\/a>So Yeon Ryu made an impression at the U.S. Women's Open with her play, her smile, and her ability to communicate in English. <\/p><\/div>Two Koreans met in a playoff for the U.S. Women\u2019s Open. Bad news for the LPGA Tour? <\/p>\n
Not if you were watching the tournament. If you were, you saw two young, engaging, smiling, and, yes, attractive players delivering great golf with the game\u2019s biggest title on the line, and even delivering good interviews\u2014in English\u2014afterwards. It\u2019s only a shame that weather delays kept most of it off network television, leaving most of the action to ESPN2 and the final drama to Monday morning, cutting down the size of the audience. <\/p>\n
The winner, 21-year-old So Yeon Ryu, was a revelation. A college junior (but a professional with six victories on the Korean Tour), she has played less than a handful of tournaments in America. She must have received A\u2019s in her English courses back home. After finishing her regulation round on Monday, she did a thoroughly engaging interview with Roger Maltbie, expressing herself very well and coming off as a sweet, friendly girl. <\/p>\n
After that, she signed autographs and even posed for pictures with fans as she waited for the playoff (there were still some players on the course finishing regulation play before the playoff could begin). Then she walked down the fairways of the playoff with a big smile, enjoying the moment. Meanwhile, she was hitting her drives down the middle of the fairway, her irons right at the flag, and her putts into the center of the hole: After a birdie on the 72nd hole to force a playoff, she birdied two of the holes in the three-hole playoff. <\/p>\n
As for the runner-up, Hee Kyung Seo, she\u2019s known back in Korea as \u201cthe Supermodel of the Fairways\u201d for her height, elegance, and sense of style. She turned 25 last week and is a rookie on the LPGA Tour, though she won a tournament last year playing on a sponsor exemption granted by Korean sponsor Kia. <\/p>\n
Despite her limited amount of time in America, her English is pretty good, too. As it worked out, Seo caught a bad break by finishing Sunday night, because she had to go out cold in a playoff against a player who had just played those same three holes, but she was gracious in defeat. Her play was impressive, too, most notably rounds of 68-68 on a 36-hole Sunday under U.S. Open conditions to bring herself to the brink of the title. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s still true that success by American players is a key to the growth of the LPGA Tour, especially in light of how the number of tournaments staged in the U.S. has dwindled. But if either Ryu or Seo emerges as a force, it wouldn\u2019t hurt. <\/p>\n
Oddly, this was the first win by a Korean on the LPGA Tour this year\u2014Taiwan\u2019s Yani Tseng has been doing the honors for Asia with four wins. That\u2019s partly because of the LPGA\u2019s criminally thin schedule, with only 10 tournaments played before the Women\u2019s Open. And partly because while there has been a wave of good Korean players in the past decade, there hasn\u2019t quite been a breakout player. That\u2019s perhaps a little unfair, since Jiyai Shin and Na Yeon Choi led the money list in 2009 and 2010, respectively, but neither has been playing particularly well in 2011. <\/p>\n
Frankly, it\u2019s tough to keep the Korean players apart. The names are part of it, and I\u2019m not being an ugly American by saying so. Even K.J. Choi, the top male Korean, once said when asked about Koreans on the LPGA Tour, \u201cToo many Kims!\u201d <\/p>\n
With such a large contingent of Korean players, and different ones popping up to occasionally win tournaments, it\u2019s tough to keep them apart. Was it Eun-Hee Ji or Eunjung Yi who won the 2009 U.S. Women\u2019s Open? I always have trouble remembering. (It was Ji. But Yi did win in Toledo in 2009. Neither has won since.) <\/p>\n
I\u2019ve typed \u201cSo Yeon Ryu\u201d and \u201cHee Kyung Seo\u201d a bunch of times in the last few days, and each time I still have to look up the name because I can\u2019t rely on my memory (it doesn\u2019t help that one\u2019s first name is nearly the same as the other\u2019s last name). Time might take care of that, but only if either one becomes a frequent winner or constant contender. <\/p>\n
I have to say it was a bit comical to American ears to have two players in the playoff whose names are pronounced \u201cYou\u201d and \u201cSo,\u201d leading to such exchanges as, \u201cWhere is you, Roger?\u201d <\/p>\n
The first Korean player to try to distinguish herself from the pack by thinking about how to call herself was Birdie Kim, who won the 2006 U.S. Women\u2019s Open. Unfortunately, Birdie hasn\u2019t given us any reason with her play since to remember her\u2014she hasn\u2019t even made a cut since 2009. <\/p>\n
Initials are a good idea. It\u2019s worked pretty well for K.J. Choi. On the LPGA Tour, I.K. Kim is an easier handle than In-Kyung. And the best is N.Y. Choi, giving her the memorable nickname NYC. <\/p>\n
Then again, if all Koreans went by initials, that could get confusing, too. And S.Y. Ryu doesn\u2019t quite have a ring to it. But it will be interesting to see if she can build on her victory, instead of fading back into the woodwork as U.S. Open champs Birdie Kim, Inbee Park, and Ji have done. <\/p>\n
She certainly seems to have the potential for greatness. Ryu turned pro at the age of 17 and immediately won on the Korean Tour at that age. She\u2019s been doing on her side of the Pacific what Michelle Wie has been doing here, combining college with playing the Tour, but with more success. In 2009, Ryu narrowly was beaten out for Korean Player of the Year honors by Seo, but then beat Seo in a playoff in the first event of 2010 (a precursor to the Women\u2019s Open). <\/p>\n
Now she faces a choice of whether to return to college or take an LPGA Tour card immediately. Or perhaps she could still do both, though it would be harder to do from Korea than for Wie from Stanford. In any case, we should be seeing Ryu on these shores frequently before too long, following in the footsteps of Shin and Seo, who joined the LPGA Tour after being the leading player in Korea. <\/p>\n
With that smile, those English skills, and that golf talent, Ryu could even be a top attraction on these shores. Though it\u2019s best not to get ahead of ourselves\u2014the same could have been said about Grace Park a few years ago. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"