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Mi Na Lee exploded onto the KLPGA tour in
2002. As a 20 year old rookie phenom she won several times,
and ended up the top player on the money list and Player of
the Year. She also got to play in two LPGA events: the Samsung,
where she finished second to last (19th) (and where I saw
her in person!), and the Sports Today CJ Nine Bridges Classic,
where she finished 41st.
Lee had a less successful 2003 campaign. She
was leading the KLPGA early in the year, and qualified to
play in the Samsung Championship on the LPGA as a result (though
again she finished far down the field there). But later in
the season, several players caught her, and she ended up finishing
4th on the KLPGA money list for the year. This meant that
she did not qualify to play on the Pinx Cup team in 2003,
nor was she named to it as an alternate, even when Gloria
Park had to drop out.
Lee was also not able to qualify for the LPGA
tour at Q-School in 2003. In 2004, she played the Futures
Tour, where she finished 23rd on the money list. She then
went to Q-School, where she earned an Exempt card for the
2005 LPGA season by finishing tied for 25th.
In 2005, Mi Na Lee changed her name to Mee
Lee. Apparently she wasn't fond of that, for a few months
into the 2005 season, she changed it again, this time to Meena
Lee. She started her rookie season on a bad note, missing
at one point 7 of 8 cuts. But she eventually found her speed,
and nearly won the Corning Classic in May. She was tied for
the lead on the final hole, but made double bogey. A few months
later, she again came very close to winning, this time at
the HSBC Women's World Match Play. She ended up losing in
the finals to Marisa Baena on the final hole. Third time was
the charm, though. When next she got into contention, at the
BMO Financial Canadian Women's Open, she won, becoming the
third first time winner among the Koreans in 2005.
Meena ended up finishing an astonishing 7th
place on the money list. What's even more amazing is that
she didn't come close to winning Rookie of the Year despite
that finish. Still, that's a fantastic year for her, one of
the top Rookie campaigns for a Korean ever.
In 2006, she hasn't been as consistent as
she was in 2005, but when she's been good, she's been great.
In only her second event of the year, she blazed past Michelle
Wie, caught rookie Seon Hwa Lee on the last hole, then beat
her in a three hole playoff to capture her second career win.
She looked like she would get her third win at the Corning
Classic, but Hee-Won Han caught her on the final hole and
beat her in a four hole playoff. Meena's biggest misfire was
forgetting to send her application in for the US Women's Open;
she thus was not able to play that important event. But she
still finished in the top twenty on the money list for the
second straight year (she finished 19th).
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