She’s a little bit tired after winning the U.S. Women’s Open, but Jeongeun Lee6 is ready for ShopRite

GALLOWAY, N.J. — Life has been a whirlwind since Jeongeun Lee6 won last weekend’s U.S. Women’s Open, leading to more interest in the 23-year-old LPGA Tour rookie from South Korea than just wondering why she puts a “6” at the end of her name.

She added the “6” in 2016 to set herself apart after becoming the sixth Jeongeun Lee to join the Korean LPGA Tour. It’s not because she finished 6-under-par in winning the U.S. Women’s Open at Charleston, S.C., by two strokes after a closing 70, but that would sound good, too.

The victory earned her $1 million, propelling her to the top of the money list. She wants to use that as a springboard to more success now that she’s playing the LPGA Tour full time, and that includes her next start — Friday in the ShopRite LPGA Classic at Seaview’s Bay Course.

Even if she is coming off an exhausting week that included so many text message and email responses that “my fingers were tired, it hurt a lot.”

“I feel a little bit tired,” Lee6 said through her manager, Jennifer Kim, who translated for her. “Even though I’m tired, I’m still a rookie player. Even though I won the U.S. Open … I really want to focus on other tournaments and play well. I don’t want to think about, ‘Oh, I won the major tournament, so I’m good.’ I really want to play well the rest of the tournaments.”

Lee6 won seven events in three years on the KLPGA Tour. She finished in the top six at two LPGA majors last season, including the Women’s Open. She won the LPGA Q-Series, an eight-round grind contested over two weekends, last fall to earn her card.

She now has growing confidence to go with her talent.

“Back when I was in KLPGA, I played pretty well three straight years,” she said. “But winning a major tournament, LPGA, this is such a different feeling, and it makes me more confident than when I was in KLPGA. So I feel like I want to be relaxed and play consistent.”

Lee6’s family encountered tragedy when she was 4 years old. Her father, a truck driver, was paralyzed in a traffic accident, and his condition took priority over her development as a player.

However, when asked Wednesday how the story about her father resonated with people around the world, Lee6 smiled a little as she answered the question in Korean.

“People talked and asked about my father, but my mom got jealous, actually, so if people could ask about my mom, too ... ” she said. “I know my background is a little bit tragic and I totally understand why people are curious, because obviously people don’t really know about me. I just became an LPGA player.

“And so I wish everyone could ask about me more than my family.”

Lee6 is seeing Seaview for the first time. She practiced there Wednesday, but indicated she would rest Thursday before her first round. She said she has a yardage book and found a website with photos of the course, so she won’t be totally unfamiliar with it.

She realizes she might have a larger gallery as a U.S. Women’s Open champion, but she welcomes the added attention.

“When I played in KLPGA, I have so many fans out there,” she said. “I felt a little of the pressure, because there’s so many fans, and I really wanted to play well in front of them. If I have a lot of fans in America, I wouldn’t feel too much pressure. I think I would feel more confident playing on the course.”

Brynn Walker of St. Davids, who just completed her junior season at North Carolina, won a playoff Monday to earn the last of two spots in the field in a qualifier. Walker, a Radnor High School graduate, played in this event in 2016, but missed the cut.