Mi-Hyun Kim

Korean name
Hangul	김미현
Hanja	金美賢
Revised Romanization	Gim Mi-hyeon
McCune–Reischauer	Kim Mi-hyŏn

Mi-Hyun Kim
김미현
Mi-Hyun Kim; 김미현
	KLPGA (joined 1996)
Professional wins	21
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour	8
LPGA of Korea Tour	13
Best results in LPGA major championships;
Chevron Championship	T5: 2005
Women's PGA C'ship	T3: 2006
U.S. Women's Open	T4: 2000
du Maurier Classic	T6: 1999
Women's British Open	2nd: 2001
Achievements and awards
LPGA Rookie of the Year
LPGA Rookie of the Year	1999

Mi-Hyun Kim (

major championship second place at the 2001 Women's British Open

.

Background

Born in

Hee-Won Han – the four nicknamed the "Seoul Sisters"^[1] – are considered pioneers in the surge of outstanding South Korean women's golfers on the LPGA Tour.^[2]

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. 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.'"^[3]

A year later on the eve on the 2008 SemGroup Championship, the president of the

United Way of the Plains in Wichita, Kansas 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.^[4]^[5]

Personal

Kim retired from the LPGA Tour after playing several tournaments during the 2011 season.[2] In December 2008 she married Lee Won-hee, a former Olympic gold medalist in judo who now teaches judo at a university in South Korea.^[6]^[7] In 2009 they had a son, Ye Sung Lee, who was born in Orlando, Florida.^[6] The couple divorced in 2012.^[8]

She currently teaches golf in South Korea. A golf teaching/practice facility built by her father is named the Mi-Hyun Kim Golf World.^[1]

Professional wins (19)

LPGA Tour (8)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	6 Sep 1999	State Farm Rail Classic	-12 (66-68-70=204)	1 stroke	Janice Moodie Pearl Sinn
2	10 Oct 1999	First Union Betsy King Classic	-8 (68-72-70-70=280)	1 stroke	Beth Daniel Helen Dobson Jenny Lidback
3	24 Sep 2000	Safeway LPGA Golf Championship	-1 (70-73-72=215)	Playoff	Jeong Jang
4	21 Jul 2002	Giant Eagle LPGA Classic	-14 (65-68-69=202)	1 stroke	Kelly Robbins
5	4 Aug 2002	Wendy's Championship for Children	-8 (68-67-73=208)	1 stroke	Hee-Won Han
6	30 Apr 2006	Ginn Clubs & Resorts Open	-12 (70-66-69-71=276)	2 strokes	Lorena Ochoa Karrie Webb
7	16 Jul 2006	Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic	-18 (68-66-67-65=266)	Playoff	Natalie Gulbis
8	6 May 2007	SemGroup Championship	-3 (71-68-71=210)	Playoff	Juli Inkster

LPGA Tour playoff record (3–3)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	2000	Safeway LPGA Golf Championship	Jeong Jang	Won with par on second extra hole
2	2000	New Albany Golf Classic	Lorie Kane	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
3	2001	The Office Depot	Annika Sörenstam	Lost to par on first extra hole
4	2001	Kathy Ireland Championship	Rosie Jones	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
5	2006	Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic	Natalie Gulbis	Won with birdie on third extra hole
6	2007	SemGroup Championship	Juli Inkster	Won with par on first extra hole

LPGA of Korea Tour wins (13)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	30 Apr 1994	Tomboy Women's Open (as an amateur)	72-74-72=218	+2	2 strokes	Kang Soo-yun (amateur)
2	15 Jul 1995	Fursys Cup Korea Women's Open (as an amateur)	71-71-68=210	−6	2 strokes	Se Ri Pak (amateur)
3	29 Jun 1996	Midopa Women's Open	69-69=138	-6	2 strokes	Song Chae-eun Ha Nan-kyung
4	18 Aug 1996	Korea Oil Corporation Invitational	67-74-65=206	−10	2 strokes	Se Ri Pak
5	25 Oct 1996	LG Fashion Cup Korea Women's Open	70-74-72=216	E	2 strokes	Se Ri Pak
6	31 Aug 1997	Korea Oil Corporation Invitational	71-74-68=213	−3	1 stroke	Il Mi Chung
7	7 Sep 1997	FILA Women's Open	73-68-70=211	−10	1 stroke	Gloria Park (amateur)
8	13 Sep 1997	Lacoste SBS Champions	73-75-74=222	+6	3 strokes	Han Ji-yeon Seo A-ram
9	9 May 1998	Carnation Women's Open	70-73-67=210	−6	7 strokes	Jeong Jang (amateur)
10	11 Sep 1998	SBS Champions	72-74-74=220	+4	Playoff	Il Mi Chung
11	1 Nov 1998	KLPGA Championship	72-76-71=219	+3	2 strokes	Seo Ji-hyun
12	29 Oct 2000	Sports Seoul Hyundai Securities Women's Open	71-68-68=207	−9	4 strokes	Laura Davies
13	3 Dec 2000	Paradise Women's Open	71-73-63=207	−9	10 strokes	Il Mi Chung

Tournaments in bold denotes major tournaments in KLPGA

Results in LPGA majors

Tournament	1998	1999	2000
Kraft Nabisco Championship			T47
LPGA Championship		T26	T12
U.S. Women's Open	CUT		T4
du Maurier Classic		T6	T33

Tournament	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Kraft Nabisco Championship	T15	T21	T57	7	T5	T42	T30	T6	T48	T56	T33
LPGA Championship	8	T33	T30	T30	T7	T3	T15	T10	CUT	T42	T43
U.S. Women's Open	T26	T22	T30	T16	T31	T41	T8	T6			CUT
Women's British Open ^	2	T61	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	T24		T31	CUT

^ The Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA major in 2001.

Top 10

Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" tied

Summary

Starts – 48
Wins – 0
2nd-place finishes – 1
3rd-place finishes – 1
Top 3 finishes – 2
Top 5 finishes – 4
Top 10 finishes – 13
Top 25 finishes – 19
Missed cuts – 9
Most consecutive cuts made – 16
Longest streak of top-10s – 3

Team appearances

Amateur

Espirito Santo Trophy (representing South Korea): 1994

References

^ ^a ^b "Mi-Hyun Kim, A Tribute To A Retiring LPGA Star". 7 October 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Mi Hyun Kim: 'Seoul Sister' takes a final bow". LPGA. October 2012.
^ "Kim makes $100,000 donation to aid victims of Greensburg, Kan., tornado". LPGA. 11 May 2007.
^ "Mi Hyun Kim's Donation Makes a Difference in Kansas". LPGA. 29 April 2008.
^ "Pre Tournament Interviews: SemGroup Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons". LPGA. 29 April 2008.
^ ^a ^b Nichols, Beth Ann (25 March 2010). "Kim learns to balance golf and motherhood". Golfweek.
^ "Mi Hyun Kim profile". LPGA. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
^ "이원희 김미현 이혼이유는?...김미현 은퇴 이것때문에". 금강일보 (in Korean). 29 June 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2022.

External links

Mi-Hyun Kim at the
LPGA Tour
official site
Biography on seoulsisters.com

[seoul-1] "Mi-Hyun Kim, A Tribute To A Retiring LPGA Star". 7 October 2012.

[retire-2] "Mi Hyun Kim: 'Seoul Sister' takes a final bow". LPGA. October 2012.

[greensburg1-3] "Kim makes $100,000 donation to aid victims of Greensburg, Kan., tornado". LPGA. 11 May 2007.

[greensburg2-4] "Mi Hyun Kim's Donation Makes a Difference in Kansas". LPGA. 29 April 2008.

[unitedwaythanks-5] "Pre Tournament Interviews: SemGroup Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons". LPGA. 29 April 2008.

[newborn-6] Nichols, Beth Ann (25 March 2010). "Kim learns to balance golf and motherhood". Golfweek.

[7] "Mi Hyun Kim profile". LPGA. Retrieved 22 July 2014.

[8] "이원희 김미현 이혼이유는?...김미현 은퇴 이것때문에". 금강일보 (in Korean). 29 June 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2022.

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