Much like the prominent suffix—such as junior, senior or “the third”— among PGA players, the three monosyllabic names dotting the LPGA roster is no accident. “Lee”, “Park” and “Kim” are just a few of the names that have dominated the leader board the last couple of years, and the trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

And it’s not just that Korean golfers are successful on tour after a few years, they begin dominating right from the get-go.

Take Se Ri Pak for example. It was just eight years ago in 1998 when Pak joined the LPGA. That same year she became the first Korean golfer to ever win the Rookie of the Year award on the LPGA.  Since then, with the exception of 2002, a Korean name has claimed the title for either first or second (or both) in that race: Mi Hyun Kim (1999), Hee-Won Han (2001) and Shi Hyun Ahn (2004).  Though American Paula Creamer won the award in 2005, Korean players weren’t far behind, finishing second, third, fourth and fifth.

The LPGA rookie class of 2006 is one of the largest in history, with the American media hyping players such as Morgan Pressel, Ai Miyazato and Brittany Lang as Rookie of the Year candidates.  Yet as the season has progressed, the player who has taken a sizeable lead in this contest is one who received almost no pre-season attention: a Korean named Seon Hwa Lee.

Though she isn’t as well known here in the States, Lee is no newcomer to women’s golf.  Though only 20 years old, she has been slugging it out as a professional since many of her rookie challengers were still playing junior tournaments.
Seon Hwa Lee started playing at just seven 7 old. A year later she took her chances in her first junior tournament.
It did not go that well.

She shot a 104, missing the cut and finishing terribly close to dead last.  But by the time she was 9, Lee was coming in second to those same competitors, girls up to 13 years old.Lee’s talent, hard work and determination allowed her to advance at an unprecedented rate.  When she was 12, Lee qualified for her first event against adult professionals, and just a couple of years later, she won one.

Lee and her family decided that she was good enough to compete against the top players on the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour, also known as the KLPGA.  Lee was about to do something that no one had ever done before: She was going to turn professional at just 14 years old.  Overnight, the teenager became a sensation, claiming the title of youngest pro golfer in her country’s history.

Playing a complete KLPGA schedule of 10 events a year for four years, Lee balanced professional golf with the normal life of a high school student long before Michelle Wie ever considered doing the same (albeit at a younger age). 

At the age of 15, Lee became the youngest woman/girl to ever win an event on the KLPGA when she claimed the 2001 McSquare Championship.  Her fame increased even more, and the teenage prodigy soon appeared in magazines and on TV.But Lee had bigger plans.

“Actually, my goal was [always] LPGA,” Lee said at the Safeway Classic in an interview with AAGolf Magazine this August.  “Every Korean girl’s goal is [the] LPGA…  like Se Ri Pak.“  After four years on the KLPGA, Lee was almost ready to make her move. She felt she needed to get a little better before she tackled the big leagues.  “So I decided not [to go to] qualifying [for the LPGA], I wanted more experience...  I decided to go to Futures Tour. “

The Duramed Futures Tour is a developmental tour that offers LPGA tour cards to the top five women on the Futures’ money list at the end of the year.  Lee and her family decided the tour would help her get used to the increased travel, competition and different styles of courses she would be playing in America.

She came to the United States in 2004 and joined the tour, but things did not go as she had planned.  “I didn’t get [an] LPGA card,” she explained.  “I was a little disappointed.  I did good on the KLPGA, so I thought I would get my card the first [year on the] Futures Tour.  But I didn’t make it, so I was very disappointed.  But I keep trying my best.”

Her work and practice paid off big in 2005. A dominating presence on the tour during her sophomore season, Lee accumulated her first win and 12 top-10 finishes in 18 starts.  She would go on to finish first on the tour’s money list that year, earning her coveted LPGA exemption for 2006.  But even though former Futures Tour money leaders such as Grace Park, Beth Bauer and Lorena Ochoa have gone on to great success on the LPGA Tour, the American press inititally ignored the six-year veteran when she joined the big leagues. It wasn’t until she proved herself a few times over that the press would begin to take notice.

After just missing a top 10 in the first event of the year, Lee immediately made her presence felt in the second event, the Fields Open.  She shot 65-66 to take a two shot lead into the final day.  On day three, however, Lee struggled to hold on.  “[My] last day, my play was not good because my putter was not good.  So I didn’t make any birdies.”

Eventually Lee was caught by fellow Korean, Meena Lee, who went on to beat her in a playoff.  It was a disappointment, but her years of experience taught her not to be discouraged.  “I’m not worried about that, because she made [up] six or seven [shots]…It doesn’t bother me.” And for a rookie season, two second-place finishes in her first three events is a magnificent accomplishment.

With her first season coming to a close, Lee has learned more than just how to improve her game. She’s also come to understand how much she can handle.

“I’ve never played more than 20 tournaments [in a year], but this year I’ve [already] played almost 20 or 25 tournaments.  It’s hard…Next year, I’m going to take off a lot of tournaments I think.”

Although she has been slowing down a bit, in her rookie season on the LPGA Lee has already incurred one win, several top-two finishes and more than $700,000 in earnings.  Not bad for a 20-year-old veteran who slipped under the radar onto the LPGA this year.  The future is most certainly looking bright for rookie sensation Seon Hwa Lee. 

Eric Fleming is the editor of a website dedicated to the Korean women golfers on the LPGA tour, www.seoulsisters.com.