Mi-Hyun Kim Explained

Mi-Hyun Kim 김미현
Nickname:	Peanut, Kimmie
Birth Date:	13 January 1977
Birth Place:	Incheon, South Korea
Height:	5 ft 1 in
Residence:	Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Spouse:	Won Hee Lee (m. 2008-2012)
College:	Sungkyunkwan University
Yearpro:	1996
Tour:	LPGA Tour (joined 1999) KLPGA (joined 1996)
Prowins:	21
Lpgawins:	8
Klpgawins:	13
Nabisco:	T5: 2005
Lpga:	T3: 2006
Wusopen:	T4: 2000
Dumaurier:	T6: 1999
Wbritopen:	2nd: 2001
Award1:	LPGA Rookie of the Year
Year1:	1999

Hangul:	김미현
Hanja:	金美賢
Rr:	Gim Mi-hyeon
Mr:	Kim Mi-hyŏn
Korean name
Tablewidth:	254
Color:	ace1af

Mi-Hyun Kim (Korean: 김미현, born 13 January 1977) is a professional golfer from South Korea. She turned professional in 1996 and won 11 events on the LPGA of Korea Tour (KLPGA) between 1996 and 2000. In 1999, she joined the LPGA Tour 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.

Background

Born in Incheon, Kim received the nicknamed "Peanut" because she stands only 5inchesft1inchesin (ftin) tall. LPGA golfers also refer to her as "Kimmy." She was inspired to move to the United States by Se Ri Pak, and they along with Grace Park and 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.

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 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 align=center -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.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 External links Biography on seoulsisters.com ]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mi-Hyun Kim, A Tribute To A Retiring LPGA Star. 7 October 2012 .
2. Web site: Mi Hyun Kim: 'Seoul Sister' takes a final bow . LPGA . October 2012.
3. Web site: Kim makes $100,000 donation to aid victims of Greensburg, Kan., tornado . LPGA . 11 May 2007 .
4. Web site: Mi Hyun Kim's Donation Makes a Difference in Kansas . LPGA . 29 April 2008 .
5. Web site: Pre Tournament Interviews: SemGroup Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons . LPGA . 29 April 2008 .
6. Kim learns to balance golf and motherhood . Golfweek . Beth Ann . Nichols . 25 March 2010.
7. Web site: Mi Hyun Kim profile . LPGA . 22 July 2014.
8. Web site: 2021-06-29 . 이원희 김미현 이혼이유는?...김미현 은퇴 이것때문에 . 2022-08-19 . 금강일보 . ko.