This week, the LPGA will be saying goodbye to two women who helped usher in the explosion of golfers from Korea during the late 90's and early 2000's. Immediately following Se Ri Pak's break out season in 1998, Jeong Jang and Hee-Won Han were among the ladies from the Republic of Korea that came to America and started winning golf tournaments. In essence, they were part of the original :Seoul Sisters", a term that can now be applied to close to 50 players.
Jeong Jang won the Korea Women's Open as a teenager in 1997, and qualified for the LPGA in her first attempt in 2000. She was a solid, consistent player for a number of years, but did not win her first LPGA Title until 2005, when she stormed through Royal Birkdale and won the Women's British Open, becoming the forth major champion from Korea in the process. She would win her second and last LPGA tournament in 2006, though she would come close a number of times, including the Evian Masters in 2007, where she lost to Natalie Gulbis in a playoff. Jang's last decent season was 2012, and hasn't recorded a top 10 since 2010, though she did miss the entire 2011 season, as she got married and gave birth to her daughter Seul.
Hee-Won Han joined the LPGA in 2001 and won the Rookie Of The Year Award in the same season. Han also won the JLPGA Rookie Of The Year Award in 1998, and would win twice the following season on that tour. Han would go on to win six times on the LPGA, all within a three year span between 2003 and 2006. She was never able to win a major, but did some close on a number of occasions, including the 2009 Women's British Open, where she finished third. Like Jang, Han also missed a majority of a season in 2007 when she gave birth to her son, Dale. Han's career slowly started to decline from that moment, as her husband and child remained in Korea while she continued to play on the LPGA Tour. She recorded her last top 10 finish in 2012.
With the retirement of Jang and Han, coupled with the retirements of Mi Hyun Kim and Grace Park the last couple of years, only one player from South Korea remains on the LPGA Tour that joined prior to 2002, and that is the one who started it all, Se Ri Pak. These were all players I remember rooting hard for when I first started watching the LPGA, and it's sad that they're moving on with their lives, though I completely understand their decisions. Park and Kim have been hampered with injuries, and Han and Jang have young children. It's a perfectly logical decision...it just doesn't make it any easier.
I hope Jang and Han get an exemption to play the Hana Bank Championship in Korea, and go out like Park and Kim were able to. Ending your career in Portland doesn't seem to have the same special feeling like ending your career in Korea would. Hopefully they reconsider and play one last time in from of their home crowds.
Hee-Won Han and Jeong Jang, I salute you! Best of luck with everything going forward, and congratulations on your careers! You will be missed!
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