Jun 09

Morgan Pressel has no idea who LPGA Championship leader On Min is & she's not the only one

HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. (June 9, 2007) - Morgan Pressel would stare at the leaderboard and then give it another stare. She couldn’t figure it out. Who was that name on top, the one with a 7-under 65 on an afternoon turned into evening when the winds tormented the pros in the LPGA Championship at Bulle Rock?

Afterwards, Pressel admitted she hadn’t even heard Na On Min’s name before. It rang no bells and why should it?

On Min is one of those fringe players in golf, who struggle to qualify for events. This 18-year-old non-exempt rookie isn’t even an afterthought. She’s a never thought. Now she’s one of the best stories in a long time in golf.

Look, On Min’s chances of holding onto her one-shot lead in this major are about as good as TravelGolf.com’s own Tim McDonald’s shot of staying up to watch the finish (Golf Channel loves the late tee times and having the last group in at nearly 7:30 p.m. EST). She looked like a little kid in the interview chair a few moments ago, it almost seemed to swallow her up.

But that doesn’t take away anything from what she did today.

On a day when Michelle Wie gave another masters course lesson in marketing excess, the no-name came back with a show of pure sports.

Oh On Min has an entourage: her dad. He sold off a successful construction business so his daughter could chase a longshot pro golf career and the two travel around the country together, just chasing the chance to even tee it up. Mom is back home across an ocean taking care of her brother.

For more on On Min’s round and Pressel’s chase, stay tuned to the front of WorldGolf.com for a new full story and column tonight.

« Michelle Wie acts like a pro to finish LPGA Championship, deserves creditMichelle Wie shoots an 11-over 83, considers withdrawing before 4th round of LPGA Championship »

6 comments

Comment from: R.L. [Visitor] Email
I never heard of her either until today. Very young and a pretty good story on a pretty good weekend for women athlete. Rags to Riches at my home track, Belmont. Pretty good stuff.
2007-06-09 @ 20:49
Comment from: Raymond [Visitor] Email
It's hard to call an 18 year old a no name but it does lend credence to the fact that there might of actually been some other great young players out in the world.
2007-06-09 @ 23:27
Comment from: Otis [Visitor] Email
The fact that Na Oh Min is NOT American plays a big part in her total lack of attention from everyone. She has already placed fifth in an event this year and nothing was said about that!. A rookie, only 18. Now if that was an American rookie there would have been a huge made over that. This really isn't fair on the part of all the great International players. Take Lorena Ochoa, who doesn't even have a proper sponsor! I find that to be unbelievable, especially when the young Americans are so OVERHYPED. It's ridiculous.

Go Oh Min!!! Claim the youngest player to win a major and make Miss Piggy cry.
2007-06-10 @ 10:06
Comment from: R.L. [Visitor] Email
Otis. If you're going to root for the kid, at least know her name. On Min. You're right that she did not get much attention. And Lorena deserves much more attention.

Of course, American players will get more hype. That is the nature of the business end of things. Also it is a societal tradition of want of a better term. We are not the only culture like this. Ai Miyazato has a media contingent bigger than the one following Bush around. We are not the only country prone to follow our homegrown talent.
2007-06-10 @ 13:56
Comment from: R.L. [Visitor] Email
Actually I had meant to post to take you to task over the anti Pressel bashing. Then again, Morgan does fine without my help. All she does is show up, hit the best shots she can, and then goes home. She will help womens' golf and make all of them earn more money.
2007-06-10 @ 14:03
Comment from: R.L. [Visitor] Email
Not sure the heck to make of Pettersen. When what Mick did at the open at the Kraft, I figured she might need a season to get over it. She must be a tough lady to do in the weeks after that.

Could her abilities have kicked in or is she just playing streaky golf?? If not for a couple holes at the Kraft, she would have two majors in the bank for the year along with another nice win in a high profile tournament. All of a sudden she looks very strong. She is sure long off the tee.
2007-06-11 @ 01:44

Comments are closed for this post.

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