Hee Young Park

Hee Young Park was a rookie on the KLPGA tour in 2005. She played very well all year on tour, but many expected the Rookie of the Year would be the more well known Na Yeon Choi. When Hee Young won the PAVV Invitational, one of the more prominent events on the KLPGA tour, however, she moved to the front of the Rookie of the Year standings. The win was an impressive one: among the top LPGA golfers she beat were Meena Lee, Soo-Yun Kang (the defending champ), Jeong Jang, Laura Diaz and Carin Koch.

Hee Young was just getting started. A few months later, she finished 4th at the CJ 9 Bridges Classic, beating a gaggle of top LPGA talent including world #1 Annika Sorenstam. She played the final day with LPGA Rookie of the Year Paula Creamer, but beat her by 6 shots in the tough conditions (73-79). Not surprisingly, Hee Young went on to win the KLPGA’s Rookie of the Year trophy.

How much respect did Hee Young get from her fellow pros? When 50 KLPGA members were asked to name the best swings among all Korean players, Hee Young’s was picked as the best, beating Michelle Wie, Se Ri Pak and other top stars.

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Lucy

Thanks for making korea proud

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simon

I stayed at a golf resort in Thailand called Soi Doi on the cambodian border. There were Korean female golfers there practising for the Honda LPGA. They practised from early morning till late in the evening, then at the poolside every night practising again with baseball bats..their level of dedication is to be admired.

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