Volvik staff player Mi Hyang Lee shot a career best and course record 63 Sunday, charging up the leader board and claiming her first win on the Ladies European Tour at the ISPS Handa NZ Women’s Open in the process. The 20-year-old Lee began the final round eight shots back from the lead. Her course record held off the #4 ranked player in the world and defending champion, Lydia Ko, by one stroke.
With 10 pars, seven birdies and an eagle Sunday, Lee took the clubhouse lead after starting her day T20. She got off to an ideal start to the final round when she made an eagle from 20 feet on the second hole. She continued making putts throughout the day and ended up with an amazing 26 putts on Sunday.
“It’s my best score in my life,” said Lee. “I came around to the clubhouse, and my dad said, ‘You won,’ because Lydia missed a birdie putt – and I cannot believe. [The eagle] gave me more confidence in my game and on #14 I saw the scoreboard and I was, maybe, seven-under there. [At that time I was thinking] I hoped I’d win, but Lydia is such a good player and I thought she was going to win.”
Lee played the newly launched White Color S3 in the color of her choice, Orange, in the victory. She has been playing Volvik golf balls for three years and earned her LPGA Tour card for the 2013 LPGA Tour by finishing 6th in the 2012 Volvik Race for the Card on the Symetra Tour. She won on the Symetra Tour and earned Rookie of the Year honors in 2012. In 2013, Lee’s highest finish on the LPGA Tour was 19th at the Evian Championship. She made 10 of 19 cuts to retain her full-time LPGA Tour status for 2014.
In her post-victory press conference, Lee thanked Volvik for all of their help over the years and for being a sponsor who looks after their players, calling Volvik golf balls ‘the best golf ball in the world.’ Lee, who has been playing golf since the age of three, won $40,000 for her victory. Her father, Young-Gu Lee, is her long-time coach and caddy.
“This victory is huge for Volvik in a lot of ways,” said President of Volvik USA Don Shin. “First, our young breakout staff player we knew had the talent to be one of the world’s best, won the season opening LET event! Mi Hyang is a player we are very close with and have proudly supported over the years. She is definitely a rising LPGA star to keep a close eye on. A huge congratulations are in order to her and her father who have worked so hard to get to this moment. Secondly, we have now won three straight LET events with three different players heading into our own LET event, the Volvik RACV Australian Masters next week. This was our 10th professional victory since we launched our company.”
The win was the third straight victory for a player using Volvik golf balls on the Ladies European Tour. Current # 3 on the LPGA Tour money list Pornanong Phatlum won the season-ending Dubai Ladies Masters December 7 with a Pink Vista iS golf ball. A new player to the Volvik staff, Thidapa Sunawannapura, won the Hero Women’s Indian Open on the Ladies European Tour Nov. 30 by three shots at the Delhi Golf Club with a new prototype Volvik golf ball. Her victory was the first win for the new hybrid White Color S3 golf ball that launched Jan. 22 at the 2014 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla. Lee’s win was the second win for the new White Color S3. The White Color S3 ships to US golf retailers in April and is available in the White/Blue pearl hybrid.
Next on the LET schedule is the Volvik RACV Australian Masters at Royal Pines Resort in Queensland, Australia. Volvik recently announced they have become the official golf ball of Australian Ladies Professional Golf (ALPG).
About Volvik
Volvik is the #1 Color Golf Ball On Tour with over 70 professionals using Volvik’s ultra high-performance color golf balls on the world’s professional tours. Since 2012, players using Volvik golf balls have earned over $5 million on the LPGA Tour, Web.com Tour, Ladies European Tour, LAGT and Symetra Tour with 10 victories and 61 Top 10 finishes.
Volvik has experienced more colors (5) and number of color golf balls in play on the world’s professional tours than any other manufacturer in the history of golf. In 2013 on the LPGA Tour, Volvik had 195 total instances of professionals using their Vista golf balls in tournament play (77 Orange, 71 Yellow, 44 Pink and 3 Green).
Volvik is dedicated to the production of specialized 3- and 4-piece multi-layer golf balls that feature 37 worldwide patents. In over 30 years of golf ball production, Volvik has developed a reputation based on highly innovative development, quickly becoming one of the most significant and trusted golf ball manufacturers in the world.
Contact:
Jon Claffey
National Director/Sales and Marketing
Volvik USA INC.
Email: jclaffey@volvik.com
Office: 407-649-0013
Fax: 407-649-0015
Website: www.volvik.com
Twitter: @volvikUSA
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