Lee Jeong-eun had a “6” added to her surname on the Korean LPGA tour to differentiate her from the five others that joined the circuit before her.
After Sunday’s victory at the US Women’s Open in Charleston, “Lee6” has certainly made a name for herself.
“I’m the sixth Lee Jeong-eun player and that’s why they put it down as Lee6 Jeong-eun, but this is my lucky number too, so I would love to put it down as Lee6 as my last name,” the 23-year-old South Korean said via an interpreter after winning the most prestigious title in women’s golf in South Carolina.
Photo: AFP
Lee, dubbed “Hot Six” by her legion of fans back home, is among a generation of South Korean golfers inspired by trailblazer Pak Se-ri’s win at the 1998 US Women’s Open.
The ninth South Korean to win the championship, South Koreans have won it 10 times in all, with Park In-bee claiming the championship twice.
Lee turned professional in 2016 and quickly handled the pressure of providing for her family, claiming Rookie of the Year honors on the Korean LPGA, even as she started to sour on the vibe of the tour.
“Looking at my family situation back then, I thought about wanting to play golf because I wanted to support my family no matter what,” she said.
Switching to the US-based LPGA Tour this year after winning the qualifying school at the end of last year, Lee found her feet quickly and arrived at the Women’s Open ranked 14th in the world.
“When I was in KLPGA, I actually wanted to stop playing because I wasn’t really enjoying too much about it,” she said. “A lot of players are very competitive, severely competitive, so I didn’t really enjoy it that much, but when I came to the LPGA Tour, I started wanting to play more for a long time. I have a good time playing with a lot of LPGA players.”
Lee has no big plans to spend her US$1 million after collecting the first seven-figure prize in women’s golf.
“I can eat ramen,” she said to laughter. “That was my goal. If I finish the top five, I can buy shoes, but I can buy shoes and eat ramen. So it’s a double.”
Hsu Wei-ling finished on five-over tied for 39th place, while fellow Taiwanese Chien Pei-yun was a shot further tied for 50th spot.
Additional reporting by staff writer
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
Olympic bronze medalist Lee Meng-yuan has become the first Taiwanese athlete to top the International Shooting Sport Federation’s (ISSF) men’s skeet world rankings, while top Taiwanese shooters won golds in each of yesterday’s finals in Taoyuan. Lee’s 6,610 points put him ahead of fellow men’s skeet medalists from the Paris Olympics Americans Vincent Hancock and Conner Prince. Lee on Monday said that he was surprised by the result, although he had expected his ranking to rise after the Games, which was also the first time a Taiwanese athlete had competed in men’s skeet. Despite topping the rankings, Lee said he believed Hancock, who