When I mentioned to a friend – during a leisurely round of golf – that I had interviewed LPGA rookie Miss Jeehae Lee and also shared the fact that she was a Yale graduate, he seemed shocked.  My friend was a golfer on the Princeton golf team, and he noted that the Ivy League wasn’t known for producing professional golfers.  The LPGA tour is populated with many foreigners and college players from well known athletic conferences like the Pac-10, SEC and others, but not from Penn or Harvard.  Jeehae is the anomaly and she’s making the most of her God given abilities.  Interestingly, golf wasn’t her passion.  Would you believe that during college, she envisioned spreadsheets and PowerPoint’s for her future and that Golf wasn’t even in the picture?  I know I have a lot of friends – particularly male – who wish they were Jeehae because they went to an Ivy League school and played golf (leisurely) and would have loved to become a professional golfer.   But in the end, they ended up becoming spreadsheet kings.  I would enjoy watching Jeehae tee it up with my friends because I know she would kick their butts.

Fortunately, I was able to catch Jeehae before she departed for this past weekend’s Corona Championship in Mexico.  We sat down with Jeehae to get to know her and to see what life is like as a rookie on the big stage.

So how did you end up pursuing golf?

Golf was never really my thing. I played some tournaments. I had never never imagined doing this for a living. I never desired to do this as a living. I was always in golf. I used to watch Se Ri Pak . But I always wanted to do other things: pursue academics and be smart and all that. I searched for a really long time and golf never crossed my mind. All those hours I spent thinking about life (during college), and I never thought of golf. Investment banking is what I pursued. I did my internship at Lehman Brothers in college in Hong Kong and I was offered jobs from numerous banks but I signed with Macquarie.

Then how did you end up playing professional golf?

I quit the team at Yale after my freshman year because I wanted to do other things. I didn’t see it as playing an important role after graduation. I didn’t play golf at all my sophomore and junior year. By my senior year there was a new young and relatable coach, and the team also seemed to get along. I was only taking 3 classes and so I decided to take it up again. I was actually competitive (during my senior year) and I realized that I could do this. Even though I didn’t work on my game (the previous years), I realized that I could do this. I wouldn’t say that I fell in love with the game, but I said “hey, I could be good at this.” I knew that I wasn’t going to be any better than anybody in banking, but I knew I could excel in golf.

What’s it like being a rookie on the LPGA tour?

I thought I would be bright eyed and be in awe or nervous, because it is the LPGA tour; the premiere tour.  But then I got to the first tournament in Hawai’i and it wasn’t that intimidating.  A lot of the players (on the LPGA) I had already competed against and you just have to play your own game. The players are pretty nice and it’s fun being treated nicely wherever you go and I’m enjoying the privileges of the tour.

What do you most enjoy about the LPGA tour?

Meeting all the different people; the people on TV become real. That’s fun.

When you’re at a tournament, is golf everything?

You can’t make golf everything. It’s not good for your game to do that. I’m not a range rat. I know what I need to do and I get done and go home. It’s really weird because people think I work really hard. I see girls who are out there all day long. I think I’m pretty efficient and I get it done and I’m out of there. But people think I work real hard. You get your time in and you work out. When we’re in a cool town, like Hawai’i (earlier this year), we explored the beach. We try to get out when it’s an interesting city.

Is it lonely on tour?

No. Fortunately I have a good group of people around me. There’s another Yale grad who reached out to me and became a mentor to me.  Also, Seolan Jeon is my caddie and she used to be a player on tour.

What do you for fun?

Not much in Orlando. I sit at home and read and sometimes go to the movies. When I go to New York, I love going out and dancing. I’ve yet to go to Disney World.

What is your dream job?

This is what I struggled with during college. I could be mediocre in anything but I never really had gone above and beyond in anything except in golf. In school (Yale), I enjoyed studying Chinese. I could’ve studied Chinese forever.

What’s on your iPod?

I don’t download any music.

Do you like music?

I love music but I’ve never bought a CD in my life. I’ve probably bought a dozen songs in iTunes. I hate the decision making process to download music. I don’t want to deal with it.

Hahaha!  Yeah, I wish I had an admin who would download music for me.

So what do you like to eat? What is your favorite food?

I love mac and cheese.  I love Thai food.   Thailand has the best food.  Thailand has fresh seafood in the surrounding islands. They had the most phenomenal food: fried wholefish with spices and curry.

Stop!  You’re making me hungry.  Alright, I guess it’s time for the practice range.  Thanks Jeehae for chatting and good luck on the rest of the season.

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