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Young golf prodigy Lee Jeong-hyun enjoys new swings in life

Published: 12 Aug. 2025, 16:02

Lee Jeong-hyun poses during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo at Nodeul Island in central Seoul. [JOONGANG ILBO]

At 13, Lee Jeong-hyun stood on the green holding a trophy that most golfers spend years chasing. She was hailed as a prodigy destined to dominate the sport. Four years later, she was gone from the leaderboards.

Lee became the youngest woman to win the Song Am Cup Amateur Golf Championship in 2019 at 13 and went on to capture the Korean Women’s Amateur Championship in 2020, securing a berth in the Korean national team in the process.

“I will win 100 times on the LPGA Tour,” Lee said after winning the tournament.

People compared her to Swedish golf legend Annika Sorenstam, but Lee quietly disappeared from the golf scene one day.

Lee sat down for an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo at Nodeul Island in central Seoul on Thursday.

Lee had it all. A powerful drive, flawless short game and a disciplined ritual: running on the beach at dawn and jumping rope 1,000 times each morning and evening.

Her father stood by her relentlessly. After every tournament outside Seoul, he drove Lee back to Seoul for lessons at night, then rushed off to the next venue.

She could sleep in the car, but her father could never rest.

“We spent 24 hours a day together," she said. "When we trained in New Zealand for a year, he packed my meals morning and evening. He drove me to school and picked up balls at the range while I attended class. Later, I learned he suffered a panic attack there, though he spoke no English.”

She started "feeling pressure after becoming a national team member in the second year of middle school."

Lee slipped into a deep slump in high school when she took a swing lesson the day before a KLPGA major. She typically did not second-guess herself, but that day was different. Her ball stopped flying straight.

She used to place in the middle-upper ranks in pro KLPGA events, but soon she was struggling to make the cut even in amateur tournaments.

“My shots went wrong for a long time, but I didn’t have the temperament to talk about it,” she said.

Korean women’s golf saw the “next Sorenstam” hopefuls, such as Han Jeong-eun or Seong Eun-jeong. But despite countless wins in their youth, they failed to rise to prominence afterward. These golfers had one thing in common: They were smart and good-natured. Child psychologists say smart kids often feel a strong need to please their parents.

Lee Jeong-hyun poses during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo at Nodeul Island in central Seoul. [JOONGANG ILBO]

“I felt I had to repay everyone who helped me, especially my father, who lived entirely for me,” Lee said.

Lee couldn’t stand disappointing people. When she didn't play well, she panicked.

She had almost no friends. Her peers found her success intimidating. She spent so much time with her father that she never had time to talk with close friends. Last August, she enrolled at Baylor University in Dallas, Texas, on a golf scholarship.

It was her first time away from her father. She made it through a semester with three suitcases and a golf bag, without a car. She had steeled herself, but loneliness hit harder than she had expected.

“I didn’t know how lonely it would be, but I endured and learned so much," Lee said. "One year later, people tell me I’ve changed a lot. I think I made the right choice.”

The biggest change came in her attitude toward golf.

“I used to think I shouldn’t enjoy golf. I believed I had to suffer to outclass others," Lee said. "But that sense of accomplishment only lasted briefly. At some point, I asked myself, ‘Who am I?’ I realized in the United States that golf matters most when I enjoy it and play for my own happiness, not others’.”

Anxiety still lingers in her heart. But she accepts it and tries to let it go.

“I thought nothing mattered except golf," she said. "Now other things heal me. I study and dance and travel. I saw the Han River for the first time today. Letting go of my heart makes me feel good.”

Lee will transfer to UCLA this year. In Los Angeles she will find a Korean American coach who believes in her, Korean food, Koreatown and even Korean football star Son Heung-min, who recently joined Los Angeles FC.

She said she now "often thinks that she wants to be happy."

“When players focus not on results or rankings but on the joy of creating what they imagine, testing their senses, the thrill of challenge and competition — and on their own fun — then results naturally follow,” golf psychology expert Lee Jeong-cheol said.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom staff.
BY SUNG HO-JUN [[email protected]]