Mi-Hyun Kim (, born 13 January 1977) is a
professional golfer
A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...
from
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
. She turned professional in 1996 and won 11 events on the
LPGA of Korea Tour
The LPGA of Korea Tour is a South Korean professional golf tour for Women's sports, women. LPGA stands for Ladies Professional Golf Association. LPGA of Korea runs this tour, not the American LPGA. It is one of the world's five leading women's golf ...
(KLPGA) between 1996 and 2000. In 1999, she joined the
LPGA Tour
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly ...
and was named was Rookie of the Year that year. She has won eight LPGA events with her best finish in a
major championship second place at the 2001
Women's British Open
The Women's Open (originally known as the Women's British Open, and still widely referred to by that name outside the UK) is a major championship in women's professional golf. It is recognised by both the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tou ...
.
Background
Born in
Incheon
Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...
, Kim received the nicknamed "Peanut" because she stands only tall. LPGA golfers also refer to her as "Kimmy." She was inspired to move to the United States by
Se Ri Pak
Pak Se-ri or Se-ri Pak (, ; born 28 September 1977) is a South Korean former professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour from 1998 to 2016. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2007.
Career
Born in Taejon, she attended i ...
, and they along with
Grace Park and
Hee-Won Han
Han Hee-won (; born 10 June 1978) is a retired South Korean professional golfer on the LPGA Tour. She was a member of the LPGA Tour from 2001 until her retirement in 2014 and won six LPGA Tour events during her career. She attended Ryukoku Univ ...
– the four nicknamed the "Seoul Sisters"
– are considered pioneers in the surge of outstanding South Korean women's golfers on the LPGA Tour.
Her swing is characterized by an unusually long backswing that has become shorter in recent years.
Charitable giving
In May 2007, Kim donated $100,000 of her $210,000 prize money from winning the
SemGroup Championship to victims of a recent tornado that severely damaged the town of
Greensburg, Kansas
Greensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kiowa County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population of the city was 740. It is home to the world's largest hand-dug well.
On the evening of May 4, 2007, Gre ...
. The tornado occurred during the SemGroup tournament.
Kim did not have any connection to Greensburg or any of its residents. Commenting on her donation, she said, "Honestly, I made a lot of money in the United States on the LPGA Tour. Most of time, I get the money here and donate to South Korea. But, I want to help people here, too. The win was a surprise for me and I think God gave it to me like a special present or he is using me like, 'okay, I give you this, but after that you give to help the people.'"
A year later on the eve on the 2008 SemGroup Championship, the president of the
United Way of the Plains in
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...
appeared with Kim at the pre-tournament press conference to publicly thank her and announce that the publicity surrounding Kim's donation had spurred further donations totaling $1.2 million and that money is being used to build 25 homes for low- and moderate-income individuals displaced by the tornado.
Personal
Kim retired from the LPGA Tour after playing several tournaments during the 2011 season.
[ In December 2008 she married ]Lee Won-hee
Lee Won-hee (; born 19 July 1981) is a South Korean quadruple judo champion. Lee won the gold medal in the Judo at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 73 kg, men's lightweight division at the Judo at the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2004 Summer Olympi ...
, a former Olympic gold medalist in judo who now teaches judo at a university in South Korea.Orlando, Florida
Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...
.[ The couple divorced in 2012.]
Professional wins (19)
LPGA Tour (8)
LPGA Tour playoff record (3–3)
LPGA of Korea Tour wins (13)
Tournaments in bold denotes major tournaments in KLPGA
Results in LPGA majors
^ The Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA major in 2001.
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" tied
Summary
Team appearances
Amateur
*Espirito Santo Trophy (representing South Korea): 1994 Espirito Santo Trophy, 1994
References
External links
*
Biography on seoulsisters.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Mi-Hyun
South Korean female golfers
LPGA Tour golfers
LPGA of Korea Tour golfers
Sungkyunkwan University alumni
Sportspeople from Incheon
Gwangsan Kim clan
1977 births
Living people