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Ji Hee Lee is one of the top Korean players
who does not play on the LPGA. She turned pro in 1998 and
has had a lot of success since then. Among the players she
professes to admire are Americans Juli Inkster and Fred Couples.
Ji Hee is sponsored by LG Insure, a prominent
Korean company. In 2003, she continued her winning ways and
then some, winning 4 times on the JLPGA tour, finishing second
three times, and notching 11 top tens in all. This qualified
her for the Pinx Cup, where she joined the winning efforts
of the Korean team in beating the Japanese players for the
second year in a row.
For 2004 - 2006, Lee is remaining on the JLPGA
tour, but with her talent, the LPGA is probably in her near
future.
In 2006, Lee has once again established herself
as one of the top players on the JLPGA with several wins.
She was rewarded by being ranked as one of the top players
in the world on the Rolex World Ranking. 2007 was an off year
for her in Japan; she did not win and only finished 38th on
the money list, after being 4th on the JLPGA list in 2006.
Lee bounced back in a big way in 2008. In
May, she won her first event of the year, beating two Japanese
stars in a playoff. She continued to finish well after that,
notching several more top fives. But her biggest moment of
the year came when she birdied the final hole of the Japanese
Women's Open to beat Ai Miyazato. The Major win put her on
top of the JLPGA money list, a position she maintained much
of the rest of the year.
Ji Hee had a great year in Japan again in
2009, although not as good as her 2008 season had been. She
finished 6th on the money list with one win and 10 total top
fives. Outside of Japan, she had one great moment at the Evian
Masters, where she finished 11th for her best ever LPGA result.
At the end of the year, Ji Hee served as the
captain of the winning Korean team at the Kyoraku Cup. At
the end of the tournament, her team tossed her in the air
in triumph, but didn't catch her correctly, and as a result,
she was injured and had to be taken to a hospital. As far
as we know, she had no serious injuries, thankfully.
Ji Hee had a weak year in Japan in 2010. She
finished 14th on the money list, but had only 8 top tens,
and none in her final ten starts of the year.
Lee had a spectacular season on the JLPGA
in 2011, one of her best. She broke 100 million yen in earnings
for only the second time in her career, and finished second
on the tour money list, behind only countrywoman Sun Ju Ahn.
It was the first time there had ever been a Korean 1-2 finish
on the JLPGA. She had two wins during the year.
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