‘Youngjae’s Discovering Team’

Lee Hyo-song (16, Hana Financial Group), a high school girl who won the JLPGA Tour’s World Ladies Championship Salonpas Cup on Sunday, recalled the day she won the championship as if she were remembered in the past. She left a lot of records including the youngest ever winner of the JLPGA Tour at 15 years and 176 days, the first JLPGA Tour winner in 12 years as a Korean amateur player, the first JLPGA Tour major conquest in more than four years as a Korean player, and a come-from-behind victory by seven shots, but it seemed to be just a happy past for Lee.

Lee Hyo-song, who met at a golf practice site in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province on the 9th, said, “I spent Monday back home with my aunt at a cafe and had a drink, and on Tuesday and Wednesday, I went to Naju in Jeollanam-do and Geochang in Gyeongnam to prepare for amateur competitions. After that, I met my coach today and took lessons and practiced, so I am a little tired.”

Lee, who participated in the Salonpas Cup as the winner of the Korean Women’s Amateur Championship, elevated her ranking from tied for 71st on the first day to tied for 10th until the third round, and shot 5 under par on the final day to achieve a miraculous come-from-behind victory. She completed a one-shot victory with a 2-meter birdie on the 17th (par 3) and a 3-meter eagle putt on the 18th (par 5), respectively. Her third wood shot, which she hit with 235 yards to the pin, was the best shot. “I am most confident in wedge and short iron, and I am confident in my third wood,” Lee said. “I hit it confidently because it seemed like it would fit perfectly, but it hit perfectly. However, if I told her to hit it again, I don’t think it will go that well.”

Even though her caddie was a local Japanese, Lee said, “I could communicate in Japanese, so I didn’t have much difficulty,” adding, “Afterwards, Shin Ji-ae said good job and gave me a high five, calling it ‘nice play’. It was really cool.”

Lee Hyo-song, who first played golf at a driving range where she followed her grandfather in the second grade of elementary school, has won 46 individual championships. She has 13 wins in a year. “I went out when I was in fifth grade. When I saw the video footage of the shots, I thought you were blunt when you were in elementary school,” she said. “This is a dark history that I don’t want to show to others. Now, I smile a lot when I’m funny.”

Lee, who was practicing five to six hours a day, had to reduce her practice time to about two hours a day due to pain in both wrists. But she said it rather helped her manage her condition. She also gave her credit to Lee Si-woo, who teaches Ko Jin-young and Ko (New Zealand). “I focused on changing the previous movement, which was done in two shifts, to one plane so that my wrist would not be burdened,” said Lee, who has been teaching Lee in earnest since early spring.안전놀이터

“Ko Jin-young and Kim Hyo-joo are role models,” said Lee Hyo-song, who introduced her golf as “clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap but aggressive at the same time. When asked to give her a nickname, she said, “Any nickname that makes her feel calm and aggressive would be good.”

There is a chance that she will be given the chance to play in the JLPGA tour next season, but Lee said she will focus on fulfilling her current national team career. She will participate in the Korean Women’s Open (national team qualification) next month and the Hana Financial Group Championship (recommended player) in September in the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) tour.