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SHE'S HERE ALREADY

Apparently Ji-Yai Shin saw no point in waiting for 2009.

Posting a methodical four-birdie, two-bogey 70 in Sunday’s eight-player, million dollar shootout, the 20-year-old Korean claimed her first LPGA title on American soil Sunday, beating Karrie Webb by one at the season-ending ADT Championship in West Palm Beach. For Shin, the milestone triumph marked a fitting finale to a year which began with her aiming to participate in LPGA Q School this fall, but instead saw her claim her first Major championship (the Women’s British Open), a second significant LPGA title at Japan’s Mizuno Classic and the ADT’s million dollar prize – all that and she became exempt (about 11 different ways) in America without visiting Q School after all.

So much for my recent prediction that American fans would be getting to know her in 2009 - the future, it seems, is right now.

What’s really fascinating about Shin is her upside which, in an era which only six months ago appeared likely to be dominated by Lorena Ochoa roughly forever, would appear to suggest an imminent battle brewing for worldwide women’s golfing supremacy. The 27-year-old Ochoa has a leg up, of course, with 23 career LPGA victories already in her pocket – but then it took Ochoa until age 25 to claim her first Major (also the Women’s British), and until age 23 to gain her third victory. Shin, meanwhile, has taken a careful, more roundabout route to America than several of her Korean contemporaries, first dominating her home circuit as few have dominated any tour, then stepping up to win in Japan, then proving herself top-shelf competitive on the Ladies European Tour, where she lost a playoff to Karrie Webb at the Australian Women’s Open early in 2008.

Mike Clayton, an eight-time winner on the European and Australasian Tours and as keen an observer of the game as I know, witnessed that memorable event at Kingston Heath, and believes strongly both in Shin’s future and what she has already achieved, noting that “she will be the best player in the world by this time next year – which means she only has to get past one player.”

Blessed with a strong all-around game, Shin appears to possess a number of important intangibles, not the least of which is her adaptability. To wit: Clayton again points to Kingston Heath, noting that playing conditions that week were very fast and firm, mandating a style of golf virtually unique to the Melbourne Sandbelt - and certainly a world apart from the game Shin learned in Korea. Further, Shin seems a pleasant sort and is readily willing to engage the press in English, a bit of an adventure to be sure, but one which will surely endear her to quickly Western fans while also helping to separate her from the less linguistically nimble among the LPGA’s myriad young Asian stars.

Oh yes, and Shin is reportedly using her $1 million ADT paycheck to purchase an American home, so it looks like she’ll be staying a while.

Head’s up, Lorena. She’s here already.

Meanwhile, though its live broadcast was hardly well-timed for American audiences, last weekend’s 50th playing of the Hong Kong Open will go down among the great tournament finishes of the new millennium – if not ever. The winner was Taiwan’s 34-year-old Wen-tang Lin, who actually had an opportunity to close the deal on the 72nd green but missed a six-foot birdie putt, resulting in a three-way playoff with Italy’s Francesco Molinari and 19-year-old Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland. On the first hole (the par-4 18th), Lin pulled his tee ball far left, into some jungle, then responded with a seemingly impossible recovery shot: a wedge, over trees, water and sand, to within six feet. This allowed him to match McIlroy's more traditional birdie, but eliminated Molinari, who made four despite an impressive recovery of his own, from the right rough, to some 15 feet.

On the second hole (again the 18th), it was McIlroy who pulled his drive into the trees, then produced an equally amazing second: a sharply hooked gap wedge that found the back of the green, perhaps 12 feet long. Unruffled, Lin proceeded to knock his own wedge approach to within a foot, and when McIlroy missed, the affable Asian star had notched his first victory on the European Tour.

In keeping with the success of the youthful Shin and McIlroy, it is also worth noting that while Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng claimed his third Japan Tour victory of 2008 at the venerable Dunlop Phoenix on Sunday, runner-up honors went to 17-year-old Ryo Ishikawa, who has now finished 2nd, tied for 12th, 1st (at the Mynavi ABC Championship), tied for 5th and 2nd in his last five J Tour starts.

Impressive stuff in Japan and Hong Kong certainly – but on the bigger stage of the LPGA, it looks like it may soon be Ji-Yai Shin’s world.

Posted on Monday, November 24, 2008 at 11:31PM by Registered CommenterDaniel | Comments2 Comments | References29 References

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