Shin, who says she gets asked all the time about Korean dominance, has another theory she likes to proffer in this respect. She believes that Koreans have far more competitive play under their belts by the time they turn professional. “Plenty of golfers in other countries start young but, in Korea, we can be playing tournaments on a regular basis from as early as seven,” she says.
Shin smiles when she starts talking about the practicing habits of her compatriots as against those of her Western sisters.
She begins by making mention of "the golf daddies", as she and her sister Koreans refer to those Korean fathers who watch their daughters’ every shot. It is, she agrees, an approach which is at the opposite end of the spectrum to, say, that of Laura Davies, the out-and-out star of British golf for over two decades.
Shin has talked before of how things would have been very different for Davies had she been born into a Korean family. And of Koreans being stunned by the sight of the Englishwoman hitting just a handful of practice shots before going on her way to the first tee.
"When I first saw her," recalls Shin, "I said to myself, ‘She must be very confident that she doesn’t feel she has to practice’. Then, after a bit, I start thinking to myself that she must actually be very smart.
"No Korean is going to be enjoying playing for as long as Laura. [Davies is in her 50th year and taking aim at a 13th successive Solheim Cup]. They’re all going to burn out too fast."
Shin digresses and recalls the 2009 US Women's Open when she and Davies played together over the first two days. “We came to this par-4 where I hit a drive and a 3-wood and was still 20 yards short of the green. Laura, meanwhile, hit a drive and a four-iron and had a 12-footer for a birdie.
"As we walked off the green, Laura was shaking her head sadly and saying, 'I can’t believe I needed a four-iron to reach the green.’ When I told her that I had needed all three of a drive, a three-wood and a wedge she looked a bit taken aback."
Shin points to how the unofficial timetable on an LPGA practice ground tells its own story.
"When I arrive at about six-thirty or seven o’clock, there will be a handful of players already there, all of them Korean. Americans arrive from eight o’clock onwards and the other nationalities follow on from there."
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