"Major Tournament Specialist" Lee Sanghee Kicks Off 2026 Season in New Zealand

Competing in the ISPS Japan-Australasia Championship

Battling for the title against top players from Asia and Oceania

"I'm excited for my first tournament of the season. My goal is to win this year"

Lee Sanghee, known as a "major tournament specialist," will kick off his 2026 season in New Zealand.

On March 5, he will compete in the ISPS Handa Japan-Australasia Championship, which begins at the Royal Auckland & Grange Golf Club in Auckland, New Zealand. The tournament, with a total prize fund of 1.2 million Australian dollars, is jointly organized by the PGA Tour of Australasia and the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO). This year, the field includes Kevin Na and Nick Watney (both from the United States), who have won on the PGA Tour, as well as leading players representing Asia and Oceania.

Lee Sanghee poses at the 13th hole ahead of the Japan-Oceania Championship hosted by the International Society of Professional Sports (ISPS). Photo by Lee Sanghee

Lee Sanghee is a top-tier Korean golfer renowned for his consistent performance. In 2011, he claimed his first professional victory at the NH Nonghyup Open on the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) Tour. At that time, he set the record as the youngest male KPGA Tour winner at 19 years, 6 months, and 10 days old. He followed this with a win at the 55th KPGA Championship in 2012 and received the KPGA Tour Player of the Year award the same year.

Lee Sanghee has recorded four career victories on the KPGA Tour, including the 2016 SK Telecom Open and the 2017 GS Caltex Maekyung Open. He earned the nickname "major tournament specialist" for his remarkable focus, calm course management, and crisis response skills, particularly on big stages.

Through this tournament, Lee aims to assess his game on the international stage early in the season and prepare in earnest for the year ahead. He said, "I conducted my winter training in Sydney, Australia, which has a similar environment to New Zealand, where the tournament is being held. During training, I felt my golf game steadily improving." He added, "Since this is the first event of the season, my goal is to establish momentum with steady play in the first and second rounds. I will focus on adapting to the course and refining my course management to lay the groundwork for a run at the title."

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