Minjee Lee Named Mark H. McCormack Award Winner


Australia's Minjee Lee has won the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the leading women's amateur player in the 2014 World Amateur Golf Ranking.

The 18-year-old from Perth, Australia, has topped the rankings for 26 weeks. In addition to top-25 finishes in the U.S. Women's Open and the Kraft Nabisco Championship playing against the pros, Lee won the Australian Women's Amateur title for the second straight year.

The award, given out by the R&A and the United States Golf Association (USGA), is named after Mark McCormack, who founded sports marketing company IMG and was a great supporter of amateur golf.

Lee, who plays out of Royal Fremantle Golf Club, finished tied for 11th in the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open in February and was part of the Australian team that competed in the inaugural LPGA International Crown event in Maryland last month.

While venturing onto the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour, Lee finished fifth in the Bing Lee Fujitsu General Women's NSW Open, second in the Volvik RACV Ladies Masters and won the Oates Women's Victoria Open by six shots.

"I am very proud and happy to win the McCormack Medal," said Lee. "It is an honor for me to be awarded this medal and it is an achievement I will always remember in my career. I have had a great season and played some good golf so I'm really excited to be number one in the ranking."

John Bodenhamer, USGA Senior Managing Director, Rules, Competitions and Amateur Status, said of the honoree: "Ever since she won the 2012 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship, Minjee has been one of the most decorated and exciting players in women's amateur golf. We are happy to have her as a McCormack Medal winner, and we hope this serves a springboard to more great achievements."

Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, Executive Director of Championships for the R&A, said, "Minjee has played to a consistently high standard throughout this season and is worthy winner of the McCormack Medal. Her performances in the amateur game have been extremely impressive and she seems to be carrying that forward into the professional game very well. Winning this medal is a wonderful achievement and it will be fascinating to watch Minjee's career in golf develop in the years ahead."

The Men's WAGR encompasses more than 2,700 counting events, ranking more than 6,100 players representing 101 countries worldwide. The women's ranking was launched in 2011 and has a calendar of more than 1,400 counting events with over 3,000 ranked players representing 74 countries.

The above report is courtesy of the USGA. For more information, visit www.usga.org.