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Seo Hee-kyung has drawn golf fans to the course with both her skill and stylish fashion.
/ Korea Times File |
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
Stylish golfer Seo Hee-kyung has been nicknamed the "Supermodel of the Fairways."
Her pretty face and model-like appearance have made her one of the hottest female sports celebrities in Korea.
But the 23-year-old has also shown that she is not just a golfer who rests on her personality and physical traits, but one who has established herself as the most dominant presence on the Korea LPGA (KLPGA) Tour.
"I really like the nickname, but I wonder if people actually agree with it,'' the 1.72-meter Seo said with a laugh in an interview with The Korea Times.
"I felt uncomfortable with it at first. I was mindful of the way people viewed me on the course and at the practice range. But now, I think it is just a nickname which is well-intended.
"I like the moniker because people gave it to me after I won titles and gained recognition on the Tour.''
Seo was the biggest story of the 2009 season where she took center stage on the KLPGA Tour.
In her fourth year as a pro she led the field in wins with five, including three major triumphs, and finished atop the money list with 663.76 million won ($570,730) in 18 appearances.
In addition, she topped the player of the year standings and her 70.51 scoring average is also the Tour's best.
"It hasn't really sunk in yet that I've won four awards. I think I will fully realize what it means to me when I actually receive the awards and give a speech at the ceremony in December,'' Seo said.
Although Seo, a native of Suwon, has risen to become a big-time golfer on the KLPGA, she had difficulty getting the respect that she is now basking in at the beginning of her career.
Seo arrived in the KLPGA as a highly-touted prospect in 2006 but failed to make a splash in her rookie year. Things weren't much better in her second season, and through her first two years on the tour she had only four third-place finishes to her credit.
"My parents and other people were often puzzled when I failed to manage a single title (in the first two seasons) and I had trouble figuring out what my problem was,'' she said.
After another sluggish first half to the 2008 season, Seo, determined to turn things around, opted to take a week-long training session with Shin Ji-yai, who was bursting on to the scene in North America with some great showings on the LPGA Tour as well as KLPGA Tour. Seo thinks the week made a big difference and gave her career the boost it needed.
"I learned how to train from Ji-yai,'' the outspoken golfer said.
"At that time, she was already a big-time golfer on the international stage, but she exercised a lot more than I thought. When she practiced, she put in maximum effort, but she also made sure to get plenty of rest.''
It didn't take too long before Seo finally earned her first career win on the KLPGA Tour at the High 1 Cup SBS Charity Open in August, against a field that included Shin, the Women's British Open winner, and Park In-bee, the U.S. Women's Open champion.
"After winning the High 1 Cup, I found the missing piece to my championship puzzle. It was self-confidence,'' she said.
"I began to trust myself and my decision-making just seemed to click. After that, everything went smoothly.''
Smoothly might be an understatement. She won five more titles in 11 events in the second half of 2008, including a string of three in as many weeks, a KLPGA record she now shares with LPGA golfers Pak Se-ri and Kim Mi-hyun.
It was a breakout season for Seo, who earned 607.31 million won in prize money and 218 player-of-the-year points from 25 competitions, but she was limited to second place in all of those categories to Shin, who collected seven wins, 765.18 million won and 324 points.
"When I saw Shin receive all those awards at last year's ceremony, I felt a twinge of self-pity. But I was okay because I knew I also had a great season,'' she said.
"And I made up my mind to be there and claim a prize next year.''
Along with the moniker that reflects her personality and physical traits, Seo is also called "the final round queen'' thanks to her tendency for last-day heroics - eight out of her 11 career crowns were final round come-from-behind wins.
"Frankly speaking, I do not know the reason,'' she said.
"Since I rallied to win a title the first time, I don't give up until the end of the tournament, which enables me to stay better focused.''
Seo's 11 career wins put her fourth all-time in the KLPGA and Shin is the only active South Korean player with more.
Seo is tied with eight-time LPGA Tour champion Kim Mi-hyun in KLPGA career wins.
Given her performance at home, many believe Seo could make an immediate impact on the U.S. women's professional golf circuit but she is in no rush.
"I have hopes of winning on the international stage someday, but I want to continue playing well in Korea next season,'' Seo said.
She added that she wants to be sure she's ready before she makes the jump.
"There are a lot of preparations to be made, in terms of language and cultural differences, before moving to the international tours, so I will gear up for it while playing on the KLPGA.
"I plan to move to the Japan LPGA (JLPGA) first before eventually heading to the LPGA.''
Seo is currently studying English and plans to start learning Japanese soon.
Some of Seo's fellow KLPGA golfers, such as Choi Na-yeon, Ji Eun-hee and Shin, have had great results in the United States.
Shin, 21, had the most wins, the highest earnings and was named the rookie of the year this past season. Choi won two events in 2009 and Ji was victorious at the U.S. Women's Open.
Seo has admitted that she is frequently tempted to join them.
"I am a little bit jealous of them because I am unknown outside of Korea, but they are now well known as LPGA Tour winners,'' said Seo, who is the same age as Ji and one year older than Choi.
"However, on the other hand, it motivates me to say to myself, 'One day, I will be recognized, just as they are.'"
Since her pro debut, Seo has participated in seven LPGA Tour events - five in 2009, and one in each of 2006 and 2008. Her best finishes were a pair of ties for 15th at this year's SBS Open and Hana Bank-Kolon Championship, held in February and October, respectively.
"The fairways and the settings were much different from those in Korea, so I had difficulty adapting. In addition, teeing off against the players on the LPGA the first few times was a daunting task and I was nervous about playing badly. Playing at those events was great experience, but I don't think I played up to my full ability,'' said Seo, who plans to compete at the British Open and HSBC Women's Champions next season along with all the tournaments she did in 2009 if the KLPGA schedule permits it.
She plans to travel to the United States for training in December, either in Florida or Hawaii, where she hopes to work on her shots from the rough and more technical shots from around the green.
Since 1998, six Korean KLPGA graduates have won the rookie of the year award, and Seo hopes to join that club.
"Everyone seeks to become the rookie of the year when they enter the tour,'' Seo said.
"Even though not all (Koreans) were victorious, many of them have grabbed titles, finished in the top-10 (in the money list) and received the best rookie awards. So I believe that I will be able to perform as well as many of them have.''
Seo, a backup for the national team while in high school, expressed her desire to compete at the Olympics when the sport becomes an official event at the 2016 Summer Games.
"I'll be 30 in 2016, so it's possible I could compete at the Olympics. In Korea, most golfers finish their career at relatively early ages, but in Japan, those who are in their mid-30's and 40's still play and win tournaments,'' she said.
"If I try to stay in shape and continue to prepare, it will not be out of the question.''
ksw@koreatimes.co.kr
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