In the second major tournament ANA Inspiration of the LPGA Tour season, which ended yesterday (14th), Mirim Lee dramatically won the championship.
The match seemed to be over after two strokes to lead Nelli Corda (USA) until the 17th hole in the final round, but Lee Mi-rim made an incredible turnaround.
The last hole 18 (par 5), the third shot from the outside of the green, caught the'Chip in Eagle' and drove the gear to an extension. I caught a birdie lightly in the game and beat the two players and won.
Lee Mi-rim, who added the championship after 3 years and 6 months, decorated his 4th LPGA Tour career as his first major championship, which was even more exciting with'Eagle, a Magic Chip'.
I heard Lee Mirim's story through a telephone interview.
"I didn't really think that (the third shot of the 18th hole) would go in. I just wanted to stick to the pin well, and the ball rolled a little too fast. So I thought,'Oh, it's going to pass a little.' I went to the pin and just went in."
-How do you feel when'Chip in Eagle' comes out?
"It was completely "Huh, awesome!" Are you lucky? I just thought about it at that moment."
-How do you feel about winning?
"In fact, I still don't believe that I won. I just... I'm crazy. Yeah. I'm crazy."
ANA Inspiration, one of the five major LPGA Tour tournaments, was founded in 1972 and was promoted to a major tournament in 1983.
Until 2014, it was held under the name of the'Navisco Championship', but from 2015, the name was changed to'ANA Inspiration' as the Japanese airline ANA became the main sponsor.
After Park Ji-eun (2004), Yoo Yoo-young (2012), Park In-bi (2013), Yoo So-yeon (2017), and Ko Jin-young (2019), Lee Mi-rim became the 6th champion of this competition.
In this competition, there is a tradition where the winner jumps into the'Champion Pond' next to the green of the 18th hole. Compared to the caddy, who flew hard, Lee Mi-rim, the protagonist, took too much care to make a laugh.
Was it a little scary?
"I wanted to jump in nicely, but I didn't think about it because I was standing right in front of the water, and it was so scary. The water looked deeper than I thought.'Ah, what should I do? Isn't it too deep?'
I think this kind of thought made the jump a little cool."
I describe this championship as "good luck", but Lee Mi-rim is a reputed'worker' in the women's golf world.
Lee Mi-rim, who made her debut on the KLPGA regular tour in 2010 after going through a second part tour in Korea, steadily won one win each year from 2011 to 2013, and in particular, won the Korea Women's Open in the most prestigious major competition in 2012.
Declaring a challenge on the American stage at the end of 2013, and debuting on the LPGA Tour in 2014 after going through a qualifying school, Lee Mi-rim successfully settled on the American stage with two wins in his first year of debut.
In 2014, they also competed with Lydia Go (New Zealand), a'genius girl' who also won 2 wins.
Lee Mi-rim's left wrist has been bad since he played in Korea.
Due to the tremendous amount of training, a'fatigue fracture' occurred, and because of this, I struggled for a long time while working on the LPGA tour.
(I also played with a wrist restraint on my left wrist to prevent injury.) Despite suffering from chronic wrist pain, Lee Mi-rim continued to perform on the LPGA tour even after his successful debut season.
Until 2017, it was among the top 20 in the season's prize money rankings for three consecutive years, and in March 2017, he also won 3 wins in his career by winning the KIA Classic.
However, Lee Mi-rim had to endure a long period of sluggishness after his third victory.
It was 68th in the prize money rankings in 2018 and 44th last year, and this season, we competed in both competitions before the ANA Inspiration and were eliminated from the cut.
"It was a really hard time. It was very hard. My family, sponsors (NH Investment & Securities), and people around me waited and gave me strength, so I think a great thing about winning a major happened."
Since last July, swing coach Kim Song-hee, who has worked together, has also been a great help.
Songhee Kim, who was active on the LPGA Tour from 2007 to 2013, did not have a championship at the time, but he was a leader who was recognized as a'proficient group' when he was a player because he won six runners-ups and earned $3.67 million in LPGA Tour career prizes.
Coach Kim, who is also a two-year senior in the national team of Lee Mi-rim, gave Lee Mi-rim his technical advice and confidence by taking advantage of his rich experience in his active career, and became a strong helper in becoming a'major queen' of Lee Mi-rim.
After winning the championship, Lee Mi-rim also expressed her gratitude on social media, saying, "Thanks to her sister."
With this major win, Lee Mi-lim's world ranking rose 73 places vertically from 94th last week to 21st this week.
Lee Mi-rim, who had fallen to the top 100 in the world rankings after a long period of recession, can now dream of a new dream with the recovery of his pride.
It is the'Olympic Games'.
Four Korean players are sure to play in the women's golf at the Tokyo Olympics, which was postponed for one year to July next year, and Lee Mi-rim entered the'Top 10 Korean Players' at once with this victory.
Based on this week's ranking, Lee Mi-rim has the 10th highest global ranking among Korean players.
By the end of June next year, in order to be among the top four Korean players, we have to break through fierce competition, and it is not easy with the current ranking, but being able to challenge a new dream will be a great motivation for Milim.
"In fact, I don't think I can think about the Olympics until now. I haven't been able to think about the Olympics because I haven't done so well over the past three years. ."
"A lot of people are having a hard time right now because of Corona 19, but I feel so good to be able to deliver good news even overseas. Thank you so much for sending me a lot of support and I will continue to show you a good image in the future."
The'Eagle, a magical chip,' that made Mirim a'major queen' was not just a luck, but a reward that came to Lee Mirim who endured a difficult time due to injuries and sluggishness with constant effort.
There is a poem that says,'Thirty, the feast is over', but will the feast of Lee Mi-rim, born in 1990 and this year's thirty, be from now?
(Photo = Getty Image Korea)