FIELDS OPEN IN HAWAII

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Joo Mi Kim, one of golf's "young guns" from South Korea.

Goin' South

South Korea has a wave of young golfers on the LPGA Tour to match America's

THERE may be a youth movement afoot on the LPGA Tour, but the patent doesn't belong solely to the United States.

South Korea supplies a steady stream of showcase talent that matches what American counterparts Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel may have to offer in 2006.

At this week's $1.1 million Fields Open in Hawaii, there are 21 players in the field who were born in South Korea, including last week's SBS Open winner Joo Mi Kim, pictured, and Soo Young Moon, the latter who was one of two golfers to lose to Kim in a playoff.

Not only are these international players talented, but they are young as well. Kim and Moon are only 21.

In this year's rookie class, seven are from South Korea, with Kyeong Bae, Na Ri Kim, Seon Hwa Lee and Sun Young Yoo playing in this week's second full-field event on tour.

Pressel grabbed some headlines for finishing in a tie for fifth in her first event as an LPGA Tour member, but Lee and Bae managed a mention or two of their own at the SBS Open.

Lee, 20, finished in a tie for 13th with Creamer and seven others, including Grace Park, to earn $13,142. The 21-year-old Bae was alone in sixth after 36 holes, before a final-round 75 left her in a tie for 26th for a payday of $8,082.

The average age of the top 12 finishers in last week's first full-field event was 27.3, and that includes old-timers Julie Inkster, 45, and Becky Iverson, 38, messing with the bell curve. Ask those veterans to step out of the lineup and the average dips to 23.4. And this isn't a senior-laden collegiate national championship we're talking about. This is the LPGA Tour.

Add 16-year-old Michelle Wie to the mix this week and you get the idea they'll be asked for an I.D. before drinking any champagne in the winner's circle. No wonder new commissioner Carolyn Bivens hammers home the point that this is a tour in transition.

It is.

"For the first time, we enter the year with more than 100 international players on the tour," Bivens said. "We represent just about every continent and an awful lot of countries. For the first time that I can remember in women's sports, you can be who you are as long as you're good and you can be who you are and still be accepted."

It's becoming equally accepted that this tour has as much international flavor as the PGA. Of those 12 who finished in the top eight last week, seven were born on foreign soil. Of the five who weren't -- Pressel, Inkster, Iverson, Natalie Gulbis and Cristie Kerr -- four are among America's best and brightest, with Iverson assuming the role of the comeback kid.

DENNIS ODA / DODA@ STARBULLETIN.COM
Sung Ah Yim went into the final round at last week's SBS tied for the lead with Joo Mi Kim and Becky Iverson, but a closing 75 dropped her into a five-way tie for eighth.

Of the seven top finishers born outside the United States, three were from South Korea. Kim and Moon were at the head of the class, with Sung Ah Yim right behind both. She entered the final 18 tied with Kim and Iverson at 9 under, before a final-round 75 left her in a logjam at eighth.

All three of these South Koreans are only 21 and all three played junior golf together. Kim and Yim were teammates on the Korean national team that won the 2002 Asian Games. They are friends first and tough competitors once inside the ropes.

A case in point? Moon rolled in a birdie putt from 20 feet on the first playoff hole, daring Kim and Lorena Ochoa to match her effort. Kim did. Ochoa didn't. Then Kim hit her approach to within 2 feet on the second playoff to eliminate Moon. Any animosity here? Not that anyone could tell.

"We have known each other from Korea since we were juniors -- 13 or 14," Moon said. "Just think about next time (when asked what it was like to see Kim celebrate the win). You know, first place is always good. But second place is -- because they know first place -- they don't think about second place."

Which might give Kim the advantage at this week's second tournament that begins tomorrow at the Ko Olina Resort. With a win and the $150,000 first-place check already in the bag, Kim can play loose. She already had two international victories in 2003 and managed two top 10s during her rookie year on the LPGA Tour in 2005. Winning was just a matter of time.

The same can be said of Pressel. She was right in the mix all weekend at the SBS Open, needing only a break here or there to find herself atop the leaderboard.

There's no reason to think she can't join Creamer as a teenage winner this coming campaign, as could Wie. It makes for an interesting dynamic as the LPGA Tour continues to find itself.

"From a marketing standpoint that means we have the opportunity to appeal to a wide audience and different targets," Bivens said. "That's the opportunity."

Fields Open in Hawaii

At Ko Olina Golf Club, par-72

Starting times for February 23

FIRST TEE

7:15 a.m.--Seol-An Jeon, Kim Williams, Sae-Hee Son. 7:26--Sarah Lee, Ashli Bunch, Nicole Castrale. 7:37--Meredith Duncan, Cindy Rarick, Sherri Turner.

7:48--Sakura Yokomine, Minea Blomqvist, *Michelle Wie. 7:59--Shinobu Moromizato, Morgan Pressel, Julieta Granada. 8:10--Virada Nirapathpongporn, Ai Miyazato, Brittany Lang.

8:21--Johanna Head, Lindsey Wright, Hee-Won Han. 8:32--Rachel Hetherington, Silvia Cavalleri, Jill McGill. 8:43--Juli Inkster, Sophie Gustafson, Patty Sheehan.

8:54--Lorie Kane, Nicole Perrot, Tina Barrett. 9:05--Il Mi Chung, Danielle Ammaccapane, Beth Bader. 11:45--Karine Icher, Cristie Kerr, Reilley Rankin. 11:56--Moira Dunn, Helen Alfredsson, Katherine Hull.

12:07 p.m.--Karrie Webb, Marisa Baena, Carin Koch. 12:18--Michele Redman, Janice Moodie, Leta Lindley. 12:29--Jimin Kang, Maria Hjorth, Karen Stupples.

12:40--Giulia Sergas, Allison Hanna, Brittany Lincicome. 12:51--Emily Bastel, Stephanie Louden, Hiromi Mogi. 1:02--Nancy Scranton, Louise Stahle, Yukari Baba.

1:13--Libby Smith, Michiko Hattori, Angie Rizzo. 1:24--Lee Ann Walker-Cooper, Brooke Tull, Nina Reis. 1:35--Natalie Tucker, Candy Hannemann, Sun Young Yoo.

TENTH TEE

7:15 a.m.--Yumiko Baba, Hilary Lunke, Kris Tschetter. 7:26--Soo Young Moon, Michelle Estill, Catherine Cartwright. 7:37--Seon Hwa Lee, Suzann Pettersen, Marcy Hart.

7:48--Jackie Gallagher-Smith, Kate Golden, Nadina Light. 7:59--Diana D'Alessio, Karin Sjodin, Riko Higashio. 8:10--Jean Bartholomew, Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, Diana Ramage.

8:21--Natalie Gulbis, Shi Hyun Ahn, Paula Creamer. 8:32--Grace Park, Wendy Ward, Sherri Steinhauer. 8:43--Lorena Ochoa, Christina Kim, Sung Ah Yim.

8:54--Dorothy Delasin, Liselotte Neumann, Heather Young. 9:05--A.J. Eathorne, Jeong Jang, Angela Stanford. 11:45--Mi Hyun Kim, Joo Mi Kim, Young Kim. 11:56--Soo-Yun Kang, Pat Hurst, Michelle McGann.

12:07 p.m.--Stacy Prammanasudh, Jamie Hullett, Aree Song. 12:18--Dawn Coe-Jones, Heather Daly-Donofrio, Chris Johnson. 12:29--Laura Davies, Catriona Matthew, Meena Lee.

12:40--Katie Futcher, Alena Sharp, Patricia Baxter-Johnson. 12:51--Jee Young Lee, Miriam Nagl, Becky Morgan. 1:02--Amy Hung, Yu Ping Lin, Jessica Reese-Quayle.

1:13--Joanne Morley, Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, Kyeong Bae. 1:24--Christi Can, Na Ri Kim, Siew-Ai Lim. 1:35--Mikaela Parmlid, Becky Iverson, Shiho Ohyama.

Starting times for February 24

FIRST TEE

7:15 a.m.--Katie Futcher, Alena Sharp, Patricia Baxter-Johnson. 7:26--Jee Young Lee, Miriam Nagl, Becky Morgan. 7:37--Amy Hung, Yu Ping Lin, Jessica Reese-Quayle.

7:48--Joanne Morley, Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, Kyeong Bae. 7:59--Christi Can, Na Ri Kim, Siew-Ai Lim. 8:10--Mikaela Parmlid, Becky Iverson, Shiho Ohyama.

8:21--Mi Hyun Kim, Joo Mi Kim, Young Kim. 8:32--Soo-Yun Kang, Pat Hurst, Michelle McGann. 8:43--Stacy Prammanasudh, Jamie Hullett, Aree Song.

8:54--Dawn Coe-Jones, Heather Daly-Donofrio, Chris Johnson. 9:05--Laura Davies, Catriona Matthew, Meena Lee. 11:45--Natalie Gulbis, Shi Hyun Ahn, Paula Creamer. 11:56--Grace Park, Wendy Ward, Sherri Steinhauer.

12:07 p.m.--Lorena Ochoa, Christina Kim, Sung Ah Yim. 12:18--Dorothy Delasin, Liselotte Neumann, Heather Young. 12:29--A.J. Eathorne, Jeong Jang, Angela Stanford.

12:40--Yumiko Baba, Hilary Lunke, Kris Tschetter. 12:51--Soo Young Moon, Michelle Estill, Catherine Cartwright. 1:02--Seon Hwa Lee, Suzann Pettersen, Marcy Hart.

1:13--Jackie Gallagher-Smith, Kate Golden, Nadina Light. 1:24--Diana D'Alessio, Karin Sjodin, Riko Higashio. 1:35--Jean Bartholomew, Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, Diana Ramage.

TENTH TEE

7:15 a.m.--Giulia Sergas, Allison Hanna, Brittany Lincicome. 7:26--Emily Bastel, Stephanie Louden, Hiromi Mogi. 7:37--Nancy Scranton, Louise Stahle, Yukari Baba.

7:48--Libby Smith, Michiko Hattori, Angie Rizzo. 7:59--Lee Ann Walker-Cooper, Brooke Tull, Nina Reis. 8:10--Natalie Tucker, Candy Hannemann, Sun Young Yoo.

8:21--Karine Icher, Cristie Kerr, Reilley Rankin. 8:32--Moira Dunn, Helen Alfredsson, Katherine Hull. 8:43--Karrie Webb, Marisa Baena, Carin Koch.

8:54--Michele Redman, Janice Moodie, Leta Lindley. 9:05--Jimin Kang, Maria Hjorth, Karen Stupples. 11:45--Johanna Head, Lindsey Wright, Hee-Won Han. 11:56--Rachel Hetherington, Silvia Cavalleri, Jill McGill.

12:07 p.m.--Juli Inkster, Sophie Gustafson, Patty Sheehan. 12:18--Lorie Kane, Nicole Perrot, Tina Barrett. 12:29--Il Mi Chung, Danielle Ammaccapane, Beth Bader.

12:40--Seol-An Jeon, Kim Williams, Sae-Hee Son. 12:51--Sarah Lee, Ashli Bunch, Nicole Castrale. 1:02--Meredith Duncan, Cindy Rarick, Sherri Turner.

1:13--Sakura Yokomine, Minea Blomqvist, *Michelle Wie. 1:24--Shinobu Moromizato, Morgan Pressel, Julieta Granada. 1:35--Virada Nirapathpongporn, Ai Miyazato, Brittany Lang.