'Golf World's Woo Young-woo' Lee Seung-min "Korean Tour Debut"..."Please Support My Play"

Last Month's Disabled US Open Champion: 'Hero of Human Victory'
Recommended Player to Participate in LX Championship... 20th Career Challenge
Seo Yoseop, Kim Bio, Kim Mingyu, Ok Taehun 'Title Contenders'

'Golf World Woo Young-woo' Lee Seung-min will participate as a recommended player in the newly established Korean Tour event, the LX Championship.

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] ‘Golf World’s Woo Young-woo’ Lee Seung-min (25) is stepping onto the Korean Tour.

The LX Championship (total prize money 600 million KRW), a newly established tournament on the Korean Professional Golf Association (KPGA) Korean Tour, will kick off on September 1 at The Haven, Island CC, Daebu-do, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do (par 72, 7,318 yards). Lee Seung-min is a human triumph who has been active as a professional golfer despite having autism spectrum disorder. He has been listed as a recommended player for this tournament. This marks Lee Seung-min’s 20th Korean Tour appearance and his sixth challenge this year.

Lee Seung-min drew the spotlight by winning the inaugural US Adaptive Open (Disabled US Open) on August 22. In the final third round, he recorded 4 birdies and 3 bogeys to tie with Felix Norman (Sweden, developmental disability), then won the trophy after a playoff. In the playoff, which was conducted over two holes (17th and 18th) combined, Lee Seung-min scored birdie-par, beating Norman who scored par-bogey by 2 strokes.

This is an incredible achievement overcoming his disability. Lee Seung-min’s official tournament win is his second since the team event at the National Sports Festival while attending Shinsung High School in Anyang. It is his first individual victory. Lee Seung-min was diagnosed with congenital autism spectrum disorder around the age of two. His intelligence quotient (IQ) is 66, equivalent to that of a 6-7 year old. He began focusing seriously on golf from the first year of middle school and earned KPGA semi-pro status in 2014 when he was a sophomore at Shinsung High School.

In 2017, after five attempts, he became a full member of the Korean Tour, the first player with developmental disabilities to do so. He has also demonstrated his skills as an invited player on the professional stage. In 2018, he advanced to the main event for the first time at the DB Insurance Pro-Am Open, earning a valuable prize of 1.89 million KRW. This year, he finished tied for 62nd place (4,333,333 KRW) at the SK Telecom Open in June. He is determined to fully demonstrate his abilities in this tournament as well.

Last week, Seo Yo-seop (26), winner of the Bodyfriend Phantom Robo Gunsan CC Open, aims for back-to-back victories. After tying with Hwang In-chun (48) and Ham Jung-woo (28), he secured the ‘winning birdie’ in the third playoff. This is his fourth career win, 11 months after winning the Shinhan Donghae Open in September last year. Other contenders for the title include Kim Bi-o (32), the only multiple winner on the Korean Tour and the top money earner on the Asian Tour; Kim Min-gyu (21), the leader in the points race; Lee Jun-seok (Australia); and Ok Tae-hoon (24).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.