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Jeehae Lee has one of the more unusual paths
to the LPGA tour among the Korean golfers. She grew up in
Seoul, and practiced her game, like so many other youngsters,
on those multi-tier driving ranges they have there. When Lee
was in 6th grade, the family moved to California, then eventually
to Connecticut, where Lee enrolled in Phillips Academy in
Andover, Massachusetts. She stayed there even when her family
returned to Seoul when she was in 10th grade.
She eventually graduated and attended Yale
University, where she was offered a spot on the golf team.
After just a year, she decided that playing golf and attending
school was not for her, and quit the team. She intended to
get a degree in finance with a minor in Chinese, and perhaps
move to China after graduating. She speaks English, French,
Korean and Mandarin Chinese.
But in her senior year, she got the itch to
play golf again, and rejoined the Yale team. They won the
Ivy League Championship. Lee had so much fun that she turned
pro after graduating and joined the Futures Tour.
In two seasons on the tour, she finished no
higher than 78th on the money list, and it certainly did not
look like she would be leaving that tour any time soon. But
at the 2008 LPGA Qualifying School, she stunned everyone by
playing well all week, eventually finishing tied for 12th
to earn a full exempt card for 2009.
2009 proved to be a big challenge for Lee.
She only made two cuts all year, despite playing 17 events,
and made just 8 thousand dollars. As a result, she lost her
tour status, but fortunately she finished well enough at Q-School
to gain minimal status for 2010.
Still, Lee decided to focus on the Ladies
European Tour in 2010. It was a good decision. She played
17 events over there, finishing in the top ten 4 times and
even leading one tournament going into the final round. She
played LPGA Q-School again in the Fall, and this time finished
tied for 8th, which earned her full status on tour for 2011!
Jeehae split her time between the Ladies European
Tour and LPGA in 2011. She did decently on the LET, notching
4 top tens and 4 other top 20s to make roughly 50,000 euros.
Jeehae also managed to keep her LPGA tour card in 2011, but
still only finished 123rd on the money list, meaning she fell
back to category 15 status. Though she still could play if
she wants to, in either Europe or the US, she has announced
her retirement from professional golf.
Lee worked for a while as an assistant to
Korean American golf star Michelle Wie, but eventually quit
that job and enrolled at Wharton, where she is seeking her
MBA.
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