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BOB HARIGThe LPGA bent the rules to let her in, and she hasn't let anyone down in first pro season.
There was no cash at stake, no major title up for grabs, but the shot was impressive nonetheless. Ultimately, it helped Aree Song with the decision to turn pro. No doubt it is one Annika Sorenstam coveted a few minutes later.
The approach to the par-5 finishing hole at last year's U.S. Women's Open set up a two-putt for Song and a fifth-place finish in the championship. Sorenstam needed a similar result to get into a playoff but sent her ball into the grandstand.
For Song, it was a sign.
Only 17 at the time and headed to the University of Florida on a golf scholarship, Song instead sought to turn pro and join the LPGA Tour.
"I went with my instincts," she said. "After the U.S. Open ... that was really the thing that made me confident enough to go to the commissioner and ask for an exemption to go to Q-School. I played really well last year. I felt I was ready to turn pro."
She said there is a reason for doing so at such a young age.
"I did it so I could retire early," Song joked.
The decision looks pretty good heading into the LPGA Championship, which starts today in Wilmington, Del. Song, who along with twin sister Naree attended the David Leadbetter Academy in Bradenton, finished second to Grace Park at the year's first major championship, the Kraft Nabisco, after Park followed Song's final-hole eagle with a birdie to win by one.
Song has two top-10 finishes in nine starts and has earned $225,561 to rank 15th on tour.
She has done it in the shadow of Michelle Wie, a 14-year-old amateur sensation from Hawaii who has contended in several majors and nearly made the cut in a PGA Tour event this year.
And Song also has done it without her sister. The youngest player on tour by nearly two years, Song has spent most of her 18 years side-by-side with Naree (born nine minutes earlier), hitting balls, watching movies and playing pranks on unsuspecting souls who can't tell them apart. They had never spent more than a week apart before Naree headed to Florida in the fall while Aree pursued her pro career.
"The first two weeks were very difficult," Aree said. "We're best friends and we do everything together. We're always competing in something. If not golf, sometimes it's who can sleep the most. Sometimes it's who can run the fastest. We like to compete in everything, although it's really quite friendly. But now she's not there anymore."
Naree also decided that turning pro was a better idea, so she left Florida after a semester. It was too late for her to qualify for the LPGA, so Naree joined the developmental Futures Tour, where two weeks ago she earned her first win.
Aree and Naree were teenage phenoms. They came to the United States in 1997 after their father, In Jong Song, sold his hotel business in Thailand to enroll the twins and their then-14-year-old brother, Chan, at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy. (They used to go by their mother Vanee's maiden name, Wongluekiet, but took their father's last name in 2003.) Chan just completed his junior year at Georgia Tech, where he plays on the golf team, and he is still the subject of the twins' ribbing.
When they took up golf in Thailand, Chan took them to a two-tiered driving range where they flailed away, hitting balls everywhere. "He didn't want us hitting next him; he was embarrassed," Aree said. "He told us to go up and hit from the second floor.
"Now whenever we hit balls with him, we tell him to go hit on the second floor."
Before hitting a shot as pros, the twins built impressive resumes. Aree won 16 national junior tournaments, including the 1999 U.S. Girls' at age 13, becoming the youngest winner of the USGA event. She also made 11 of 15 cuts on the LPGA Tour, including a tie for 10th at the 2000 Kraft Nabisco when she was 13. Naree won three national junior events, was the low amateur at the 2000 U.S. Women's Open and captured the Thailand Ladies' Open when she was 14.
"They both possessed amazing talent, and I have just married that to good technique in all areas of their game," said Jonathan Yarwood, their coach at the Leadbetter Academy. "Their father has instilled a strong will and mental discipline. They are incredibly dedicated and have been since they were very young. You team this work ethic with a strong mind, talent and good advice and guidance, and you have a winning cocktail."
Aree plays a bit more aggressively than Naree and has amazing power for her size of 5 feet 4.
"Efficiency," she said. "I like to keep the club moving, and I like to make the most of my physique."
"Her strengths are that her all-around game is strong," Yarwood said. "From her fitness through to her putting, she has worked hard on having no major weaknesses." There was just one problem when Aree wanted to join the LPGA Tour: She wasn't old enough. LPGA rules stipulate that a player must be 18 to be a member of the tour. Aree was 17 and wouldn't turn 18 until May 1. She asked commissioner Ty Votaw to waive the rule. And he did.
"Although she was just 17, Aree had the same level of education as someone who had graduated from high school," Votaw said. "She made the cut in 11 of 14 LPGA events she played as an amateur and made the cut in every major. It was an easy decision to allow her to attempt to qualify."
Song did, making it through the LPGA Tour's Qualifying Tournament in Daytona Beach, where she tied for fifth.
In January the family moved to Orlando and bought a home at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge. The sisters spent the winter together, preparing for the season, before they went off to their respective tours. Vanee travels with Naree on the Futures Tour, and In Jong goes to LPGA events with Aree.
"If I'm able to get rookie of the year and am able to break through and win one, that would be awesome," Aree said. "If that doesn't happen, I'll be happy with collecting other experiences and getting ready for the future. ... This is a dream come true."