There was a player who was once called the ‘god of putting’ on the KLPGA tour.
This is Lee Seung-hyun (32, NH Investment & Securities). But now, you will never hear his name with that modifier on tour again. This is because he had an official retirement ceremony on the 14th and said goodbye to his fans.
Lee Seung-hyun held a modest retirement ceremony prior to the KLPGA Tour NH Investment & Securities Ladies Championship ceremony held at Suwon CC in Yongin City, Gyeonggi Province on the 14th. It was all the more meaningful because it was sponsored by NH Investment & Securities, a strong supporter who took care of him like a mother throughout his professional career.
At the retirement ceremony, NH Investment & Securities CEO Jeong Young-chae presented Lee Seung-hyun with a retirement commemorative ‘golden putter’ with a pure gold head. In other words, it was a consolation character for the hard work he had devoted to the company.
Lee Seung-hyun made his debut on the KLPGA regular tour in 2010 and maintained a full seed on the regular tour for 12 years until 2021, recording a total of 7 wins, including 2 major wins.
He was able to extend the seed rights he had due to pregnancy in 2021 and childbirth in 2022, but decided to retire in order to prepare for his second life and stopped touring from last year.
There is a reason why the company gave Lee Seung-hyun a golden putter as a gift. This is because, since his debut, he has become a role model for players with his consistency in putting within the top 5 in average putts until 2018 and ranking in the ‘Top 30’ of the KLPGA prize money ranking for 9 consecutive years.
This is the reason why he was nicknamed the ‘God of Putting’. In particular, at the Hite Jinro Championship, a major KLPGA tournament in 2017, he won the most strokes by 9 strokes with his main specialty, putt, and at the 2018 KLPGA S-OIL Championship, he also established a record of winning the 5th ‘Nobogi’ play in the history of the KLPGA Tour.
Lee Seung-hyun has been spreading good influence through various donation activities, such as joining the ‘Honor Society’, which donated more than 100 million won to the Community Chest of Korea (Fruit of Love).
An official from NH Investment & Securities, who has been with Lee Seung-hyun as the main sponsor for 9 years, said, “We prepared this retirement ceremony as a token of gratitude for being active as a member of the team.” As a sign of support, we made and presented a golden putter to commemorate the retirement of Pro Lee Seung-hyun, the ‘god of putting’.”
Lee Seung-hyun said, “I am deeply grateful to NH Investment & Securities for providing strong support for my tour life.” “I thought a lot about retirement while taking a break from the tour due to childbirth early last year. told스포츠토토
He continued, “I received a lot of support and great love during my career as a player. I want to work hard on nurturing juniors so that I can give them back to my juniors,” he also mentioned about his future activity plans.
Immediately after giving birth last year, Lee Seung-hyun opened ‘Lee Seung-hyun Golf Studio’ in Yangjae-dong, Seoul in June at the request of many pro players around him for putting lessons, and has been teaching junior players putting skills. Kim Su-ji (27, Dongbu Construction) and Hong Ji-won (23, Yojin Construction) are the works created by Lee Seung-hyun.
Starting with this retirement ceremony, Lee plans to carry out various activities as a professional putting coach, passing on various mental experiences and technical know-how on the tour to juniors.