The tournament directors at the HSBC Women’s World Match Play Championship invited the “Who’s Who” of women’s golf.
Instead, they wound up with the “Who? Who?” of the sport.
With nine of the top 10 players being knocked out before the third round, yesterday’s final featured 22nd-seeded Seon Hwa Lee and No. 12 Ai Miyazato – not exactly household names.
Lee, who despite lacking star power, is quickly becoming one of the top players on the tour, captured her second LPGA title yesterday, beating Miyazato, 2 and 1.
The South Korean Lee is one of the best young players in the world, as is the Japanese Miyazato, Though they are celebrities in their native countries, that is not the case here. It was evidenced by the paltry amount of people who actually attended the finale at Wykagyl Country Club in New Rochelle.
Such was the state of the tournament and to a greater extent, the LPGA itself, which has a handful of players who can draw a crowd. And virtually all of those players were gone by the end of the second round.
Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa, Paula Creamer and Natalie Gulbis were gone by Friday and Michelle Wie turned down an exemption to play in the tournament, leaving Port Chester’s Meaghan Francella to keep people interested. When her run ended after the quarterfinals on Saturday, so did much interest in the event.
Spectators were hard to find, concession stands closed and the club seemed empty at times yesterday on a picture-perfect afternoon.
There’s no denying the talent of the two finalists. Lee, who also won the ShopRite Classic last June – with Sorenstam finishing in second – was the tour’s Rookie of the Year in 2006. And Miyazato has been referred to as “the Tiger Woods of Japan,” with loads of endorsements and her face plastered on billboards all over the country.
That, however, is not the case in Westchester.
The 21-year-old Lee has followed in the footsteps of Se Ri Pak, who became the first South Korean to have significant success on the LPGA and won a week ago.
“Korean players work really hard and practice a lot,” Lee said, who pocketed $500,000, one of the largest prizes on tour.
These good, young players – Miyazato is 22 – present good news for those who love the game, but not for people who hope to market it in the U.S.
Lee, however, was a pleasure to watch, playing nearly mistake-free golf after barely surviving the first round, when she had to come from behind to beat 43rd-seeded Diana D’Alessio.
“That first match was really hard,” said Lee, who recovered from losing 14 by winning the next hole to recapture her two-shot lead. “When I won that, it gave me confidence.”
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Mi Hyun Kim knocked off Maria Hjorth, 2 up, in the consolation match.