Tokyo, Japan: Teenager Lee Hyo-song has soared to number six in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) after pulling off one of the most sensational upset wins in the history of the Japan LPGA Tour.
Belying her tender years, the Korean upstaged a star-studded field to win the World Ladies Championship Salonpas Cup, one of the four Major championships on the JLPGA Tour.
Lee posted scores of 75, 69, 69 and a closing 67 at Ibaraki Country Club’s East Course. She signed off in style, following a birdie on 17 by holing an eagle putt at the par-five 18th. Her eight-under aggregate of 280 gave her a one-stroke success from Japan’s Shuri Sakuma.
With her win, Lee set several records, becoming the youngest winner on the JLPGA Tour at 15 years and 176 days, breaking the previous record of 15 years and 293 days set by Japan's Minami Katsu, who won the Vantelin Ladies Open as an amateur in 2014.
She also set the record for the largest comeback win in a Major tournament. Tied for 10th after three rounds, Lee overturned a seven-stroke overnight deficit to become just the second Korean amateur to win a JLPGA Tour event, after Kim Hyo-joo in 2012.
Furthermore, it was the first time a Korean has won a JLPGA Tour Major since Bae Sun-woo’s success in the 2019 Tour Championship.
In an exclusive interview with Maeil Business Newspaper, Lee said: “I can’t believe I won a Major JLPGA Tour tournament.
“First of all, I am grateful to my grandfather for creating all the environments so that I can focus only on golf.
“It is even more meaningful to wear clothes with Korea and the Korean national flag engraved on them and win the championship. I will work harder to make a name for myself on the world stage.”
Lee’s star has been rising rapidly since she finished tied third in the 2022 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) at Thailand’s Siam Country Club when aged 13. At the same venue, she placed runner-up at this year’s showpiece amateur championship in February.
Her outstanding form continued in March when she was third individually in helping Korea to victory in the Queen Sirikit Cup in New Zealand.
She arrived at Ibaraki in confident mood having overcame the best players from Korea, Japan and Chinese Taipei to win the individual title at the three-nation Neighbors Trophy in Korea the previous week.
Now she is setting her sights on bigger goals and vowed she will not tire of practising.
She said: “I started playing golf when I was in the second grade of elementary school, but it becomes more fun every year. There are many players who are tired of practicing, but I’ve never done that.
“I want to set a record for the most wins by Koreans on the LPGA Tour and top the grand slam and world ranking. I also dream of winning a gold medal at the Olympics and making the national anthem resonate throughout the golf course.”
Founded in 1973, the World Ladies Championship Salonpas Cup has been won by many of golf’s greatest female players including Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam, Australians Karrie Webb and Jan Stephenson, Americans Beth Daniel, Lexi Thompson and Morgan Pressell, Japan’s Hisako Higuchi, Ayako Okamoto and Hinako Shibuno and Koreans Shin Ji-yai and Chun In-gee.
