Andrea Lee of Hermosa Beach has been selected winner of the 2019 Mark H. McCormack Medal as the best women’s amateur golfer in the world.
The 20-year-old Lee, who will be a senior at Stanford, earned exemptions into the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open and AIG Women’s British Open, and if she remains an amateur, would be an automatic selection to play in the 2020 Curtis Cup team, making the United States team for the third straight time.
“To receive the McCormack Medal is such a great honor, and is one of the most rewarding achievements of my amateur career,” said Lee, who is ranked No. 1 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings.
“It goes to show that all of my hard work throughout this past year has really paid off, and to be at the top of the rankings is a very surreal feeling. This will only serve as further motivation to continue to work towards my goals in this game.”
Lee lost to eventual winner of Gabriela Ruffels of Australia and USC recently in the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur and two weeks earlier she finished third in the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship.
Earlier in the summer, Lee was one of five amateurs to make the cut in the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open.
Lee, a three-time All-American, shares the school record of eight individual titles at Stanford, and last season was one of five finalists for the Annika Award, annually given to the women’s college player of the year.
In addition, Lee helped the U.S. win the gold medal at the 2017 World University Games and captured the Southern California Women’s Amateur Championship in 2015 and 2017 after capping a brilliant junior career by being selected 2014 Rolex Junior Player of Year.
The United States Golf Association and The Royal &Ancient Golf Club annually award the McCormack Medal, which is named for Mark H. McCormack, who founded sports marketing company IMG and was a great supporter of amateur golf.
“On behalf of the USGA, our most sincere congratulations to Andrea Lee for earning the prestigious McCormack Medal,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA senior managing director of Championships.
“We’ve already watched Andrea compete in 16 USGA championships over her young but impressive golf career, and have always admired her poise, talent and passion for the game. She has represented the USA in an exemplary way during team competitions and we look forward to continuing to watch her golf career blossom.”
Recent winners of the award include Lydia Ko of New Zealand, Minjee Lee of Australia, Leona Maguire or Ireland and Jennifer Kupcho.
