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Lee is people's champion as Suk wins

Korea's Lee Sung is being hailed the people's champion despite his failure to lift the US$600,000 GS Caltex Maekyung Open at the weekend.

The 26-year-old Lee led from the opening round before being pipped at the post by compatriot Suk Jong-ryul, whose maiden Asian Tour triumph lifted him to 13th place on the latest UBS Order of Merit.

Lee was born deaf but the Korean, with strong support of his family, has shown great resilience and fortitude to pursue a professional golf career which has seen him play on the secondary Tour in the United States for four years.

His joint third place outing in Seoul, worth US$34,375, lifted Lee to 19th place on the UBS Order of Merit with a season haul of US$85,525, virtually sealing his Tour card for the 2007 season.

Now, the Korean is targeting a first Asian Tour triumph. His father Kang-kun, who communicates with him by lip-reading and travels most weeks with his son, said: "It is still a good week. Hopefully, the first win will come for him soon."

Some of Lee's peers have hailed his outstanding performances across the region. After losing his card in America, Lee turned his focus to Asia in 2004 on the suggestion of K.J. Choi. The Korean star, a three-time winner on the US PGA Tour, has been known to lend support to Lee.

Lee's disappointment on Sunday also comes several weeks after he missed a great opportunity to secure a maiden major appearance at the British Open. At the qualifiers in Singapore, he three-putted the last hole to fall into a play-off which he eventually lost to India's Shiv Kapur.

Despite those disappointments, Lee's father said he would surely learn from those experiences. Australian Jarrod Lyle, who himself has overcome adversity by surviving leukemia seven years ago, said Lee was a credit to the game.

"It's amazing what he has been able to achieve in golf despite his condition," said Lyle. "He goes about his own business and has a lot of game."

Lee played baseball when he was young but quit the game as he couldn't communicate with his teammates. He got hooked to the golf bug at the age of 16 and his father has been his only coach, modeling Lee junior's golf swing after Fred Couples and Ernie Els.

With his physical impairment, Lee often uses sign language with local caddies across Asia to work out yardages and on most instances, he gets the distances right. He won the Asian Tour Qualifying School in Asia in 2004 and enjoyed a strong rookie season, finishing 33rd on the Order of Merit. Last year, he lost his card with some indifferent form but regained his playing rights with a third place finish at Qualifying School this January.

In seven appearances so far this season, Lee has missed only one cut and also performed admirably at the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth, finishing 18th in the elite field after earning a special invite into the event. He also earned rave reviews in the Australian media.

India's Jeev Milkha Singh, winner of the Volvo China Open earlier this month, still leads the UBS Order of Merit with winnings of US$389,391 but Korea's Charlie Wi has narrowed the gap in second place after picking up a cheque of US$12,638 to raise his season's tally to US$324,325.

The only change in the top-10 of the ranking was the inclusion of Lyle in 10th place, a jump of two rungs from previously following his tied 13th outing in Korea. American Bryan Saltus, who finished runner-up behind Suk, moved into 20th place with US$83,750.

UBS ORDER OF MERIT – TOP-20

Pos Player Order of Merit
1. Jeev Milkha SINGH (IND) 389,391
2. Charlie WI (KOR) 324,325
3. Andrew BUCKLE (AUS) 280,212
4. Simon DYSON (ENG) 269,265
5. Thongchai JAIDEE (THA) 217,222
6. Prayad MARKSAENG (THA) 177,777
7. Mardan MAMAT (SIN) 174,382
8. Tadahiro TAKAYAMA (JPN) 173,460
9. WANG Ter-chang (TPE) 141,788
10. Jarrod LYLE (AUS) 136,270
11. Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA) 131,299
12. Shiv KAPUR (IND) 130,407
13. SUK Jong-ryul (KOR) 125,000
14. Scott STRANGE (AUS) 107,154
15. Amandeep JOHL (IND) 94,545
16. Mahal PEARCE (NZL) 91,625
17. Terry PILKADARIS (AUS) 90,629
18. Kiyoshi MIYAZATO (JPN) 86,730
19. LEE Sung (KOR) 85,525
20. Bryan SALTUS (USA) 83,750

May 1, 2006