South Koreans will make it hard for Lexi to retain title

Malaysian golfers (from left) Ainil Johani Bakar, Aretha Pan, Michelle Koh, Kelly Tan, Michele Low and Jean Chua giving the thumbs-up sign after the Pro-Am tournament of the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club (KLGCC) on Wednesday. — S.S. KANESAN / The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Surely most of you must have heard of the Wonder Girls – a South Korean pop group who took the world by storm with their hit “Nobody”.

Well, the South Koreans have another set of Wonder Girls in golf too – and they have been on a roll in the LPGA Tour of late.

And, let’s face it, these golfing Wonder Girls are not “Nobody”.

Among the more famous names local golf fans can expect to catch at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia, which gets under way at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club on Thursday, are world No. 7 Ryu So-yeon, Hur Mi-jung, rising star Lee Mi-rim, seven-time LPGA winner Choi Na-yeon and Amy Yang.

After being outshone by their arch-rivals United States in the first seven months, the South Koreans have bounced back strongly – dominating six of the last seven tournaments.

The Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia, which is the second stop on the six-event Asian swing – could very well turn out to be a US versus South Korea again as these two countries take their golfing “rivalry” to Kuala Lumpur.

Both these countries have accounted for 19 of the 25 wins on Tour this season. The Americans had 12 victories – with world No. 1 Stacy Lewis winning three of them – compared to seven by the South Koreans.

The 13-member strong South Korean contingent will surely be eager to wrest the LPGA Malaysia title back from Lexi Thompson, who ended their three-year stranglehold through Kang Ji-min (2010), Na-yeon (2011), Park In-bee (2012).

The Koreans will be without world No. 2 In-bee, who has given this week’s tournament a miss to prepare for her wedding.

But even without In-bee, one of the Koreans could still emerge triumphant this weekend.

After all, they have some champions in their midst. So-yeon won the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open in August, Mi-jung captured the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic in September while Mi-rim took the Meijer LPGA Classic in August and the Reignwood LPGA Classic last Sunday.

But the player to watch out for has to be 23-year-old Tour rookie Mi-rim, who is fresh from her triumph in Beijing last Sunday.

“It’s always more important to finish on a stronger note than to start the season with victories,” said Mi-rim on the late emergence of the South Korean players.

“It’s because towards the end, everybody (the Korean players) collectively thinks the same – that we have these few events left – so we begin to play a little bit more aggressively.

“And with the Tour now on the Asian Swing ... being closer to home, everybody just feels the urgency to win the tournaments.”

Lewis, seeking her fourth victory of the season, will be among the top contenders this weekend along with world No. 3 Lydia Ko of New Zealand, world No. 4 Suzann Pettersen of Norway and world No. 9 and last year’s runner-up Feng Shanshan of China.

As for Thompson, it remains to be seen if she can hold on to her crown. She has been struggling for form since clinching her first Major at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in April and has only one top-10 finish in the last eight tournaments.

Besides In-bee, other notable absentees are world No. 4 Michelle Wie, who is still recovering from a hand injury, world No. 12 Cristie Kerr, Major winner Brittany Lincicome and former world No. 1 Tseng Yani of Taiwan.

It will be interesting to see how the six “Malaysian Angels” – Michelle Koh, Jean Chua, Kelly Tan, Aretha Pan, Ainil Johani Bakar and Michelle Low – playing under sponsors exemptions, will fare at home.

-thestar online.