K.H. Lee

Kyoung-Hoon Lee is a South Korean professional golfer who played on the Japan Golf Tour until 2016. He was a shot-put athlete before taking up golf at age 13. Started golf to lose weight but fell in love with the game. Lee turned professional in 2010 and joined the OneAsia Tour, earning his card through qualifying school. He finished 39th on the Order of Merit, with his best finish being a T-6th. He joined the Japan Golf Tour in 2012, winning the top spot in Japan Tour's Q-School and recording a runner-up finish in his second event of the year. He won the Nagashima Shigeo Invitational Sega Sammy Cup in July of 2012. That year Lee worked hard concentrating on the qualifying legs in Japan for June's U.S. Open and July's Open Championship in Great Britain. "That is my focus for this year," he said. "I really want to get experience at a major, so I will try really hard to earn qualification." Did not get into any majors until qualifying for the 2014 U.S. Open.
2012 Japan PGA Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 21; in money - 17; Top-10 finishes - 7; scoring average - 70.45 (ranked 7th); money Yen73,411,694 (ranked 10th); Best finish, Winner Nagashima Shigeo Invitational Sega Sammy Cup.
2013 Japan PGA Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 23; in money - 19; Top-10 finishes - 7; scoring average - 70.37 (ranked T5th); money Yen60,445,317 (ranked 13th); Best finish, T-2nd ANA Open.
2014 Japan PGA Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 21; in money - 18; Top-10 finishes - 5; scoring average - 70.87 (ranked 21st); money Yen3,500,608 (ranked 24th); Best finish, T-2nd PGA Championship Nissin Cupnoodles Cup.
2015 Japan PGA Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 24; in money - 19; Top-10 finishes - 6; scoring average - 71.23 (ranked 27th); money Yen61,162,727 (ranked 13th); Best finish, Win Honma Tourworld Cup. Lee traveled to the United States and played in the Korn Ferry Tour Q-school. He made it to the finals and finished 8th, getting his Korn Ferry Tour card for 2016.
2016 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 18; Rounds Played - 53; in money - 8; top -10 Finishes - 1; Scoring Average - 70.51 (rank 80th); Season money $58,427 (rank 78th); Best finish: T-4th at the WinCo Foods Portland Open. Went back to Korn Ferry Tour Q-School and finished T-14th.
2016 Japan PGA Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 10; in money - 10; Top-10 finishes - 3; scoring average - 70.69 (ranked 10th); money Yen46,039,800 (ranked 17th); Best finish, T-2nd Japan Open Golf Championship, 2nd at the Bridgestone Open.
2017 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 26; Rounds Played - 81; in money - 15; top -10 Finishes - 3; Scoring Average - 70.51 (rank 64th); Season money $97,600 (rank 47th); Finals Money $24,955 (50th), Priority rank (65th); Best finish: T-3rd at the Rex Hospital Open, a shot back of the Shindler/Hadley playoff.
Played in five events on the Japan Golf Tour, best finish T-40th at the VISA Taiheiyo Masters.
2018 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 25; Rounds Played - 81; in money - 16; top -10 Finishes - 5; Scoring Average - 69.62 (rank 17th); Season money $259,096 (rank 5th); Finals Money $8,575 (82nd), Priority rank (15th); Best finish: Was runner-up three times, T-2nd at the Colombia Championship, he was six shots back of winner Ben Taylor. He was T-2nd at the North Mississippi Classic, three shots back of winner Eric Axley. Was T-2nd a the BMW Charity Pro-am, shot 64-64 over the weekend to finish five shots back of winner Michael Arnaud. He was also T-3rd at the United Leasing & Finance, three shots back of winner Jose de Jesus Rodriguez. He secured his PGA Tour card for the 2019 season by finishing 5th on the regular-season money list.
2019 Notes: Played in 30 PGA Tour events making 16 cuts with two top-ten finishes. He was 108th on the FedExCup points list. With partner Matt Every, he was T-3rd at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Best individual finish, T-7th at the Honda Classic. In the FedExCup playoffs missed the cut at the Northern Trust.
2020 Notes: Played in 25 PGA Tour events making 13 cuts with one top-ten finish. He was 31st in the FedExCup standings. He was T-5th at the RSM Classic, four shots back of the Duncan/Simpson playoff. In the FedExCup playoffs, he was T-29th at the Northern Trust and finished 97th on the FexExCup points list.
2021 Notes: Played in 33 PGA Tour events making 22 cuts with three top-ten finishes. He was 31st in the FedExCup standings. He finished T-2nd at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, earning the first runner-up of his PGA Tour career in his 70th start. He had a birdie putt from 33 feet on the 72nd hole to force a playoff with Brooks Koepka but missed to share 2nd place with Xander Schauffele. He got his first win in his 80th PGA Tour starts at the AT&T Byron Nelson. Lee shot rounds of 65-65-67-66 for a 25 under-par total and a three-shot victory over Sam Burns. At the 3M Open was T-6th, four shots back of winner Cameron Champ. In the FedExCup Playoffs were T-47th at the Northern Trust and T-12th at the BMW Championship. He made a bogey on the 72nd hole and missed qualifying for the Tour Championship by one shot.
2022 Notes: Played in 28 PGA Tour events, making 21 cuts with two top-10 finishes. He was 27th in the FedExCup standings. After finishing T-6th at the 2021 3M Open, it took Lee 21 events before he finished in the top ten again. He did it gloriously by defending his AT&T Bryon Nelson title, shooting a final round 63 to beat Jordan Spieth by a shot. At the FedEx Cup playoffs was T-20th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. At the BMW Championship, he finished T-5th to move from No. 33 to No. 26 in the FedExCup standings and qualify for the Tour Championship for the first time in his career. Shot a final-round 65 to finish four shots back of winner Patrick Cantlay. At the Tour Championship finished 27th. He played in his first Presidents Cup, had a 2-1-0 record, and beat Billy Horschel in singles 3 & 1.
2023 Notes: Finished 3rd at The CJ Cup in South Carolina, two shots back of winner Rory McIlroy. It was the second top-five by a Korean player in The CJ Cup and the first since Whee Kim in 2017 (4th). He was T-7th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and T-8th at the Wells Fargo.