LPGA rookie Seon-Hwa Lee returns home to Korea this week for the KOLON-Hana Bank Championship after having captured the 2006 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Award. Lee, 20, of Chonan, South Korea, left her homeland three years ago with the goal of reaching the LPGA Tour. She spent two years on the Duramed FUTURES Tour and earned honors as the FUTURES' 2005 Player of the Year, then took early command of the LPGA's top rookie points race this year. So far in the 2006 season, Lee has recorded seven top-10 finishes and earned her first LPGA title at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. Currently, she is ranked No. 11 on the LPGA's Money List with 2006 earnings of $881,881.

Here's what Lee had to say to LPGA.com contributing writer Lisa D. Mickey from her U.S. home in Lake Mary, Fla., prior to departing for the LPGA's three events in Asia:

Q: One of your goals this year was to win top rookie honors. You did it. How does it feel?
SHL: It feels great. It was my goal at the beginning of the year and I never missed a cut during the points race. I finished second in two tournaments, so I had a lot of confidence that helped me win the ShopRite tournament in June. I was consistent and confident. That's why I did so well.

Q: Japan's Ai Miyazato got a lot of the pre-season publicity as the rookie player to beat this year. Did any of that distract you or intimidate you?
SHL: I heard about Ai Miyazato a lot of times and she is a really good player, but I just played golf. Each week, just play golf.

Q: You join Se Ri Pak, Mi Hyun Kim, Hee-Won Han and Shi Hyun Ahn as the fifth South Korean to win the LPGA's top rookie award since 1998. What does it mean to you to join these players for this honor?
SHL: I'm just really happy for that. There are only five girls from Korea. And everybody starts somewhere.

Q: What does winning this award tell you about yourself as a player?
SHL: I had a great year. I won this year and got the rookie-of-the-year award. I'm really happy. Now, my goal will be to win a major championship.

Q: When you turned professional at age 14 in Korea, do you remember what kind of goals you set?
SHL: My goal was to just win as soon as possible. When I turned pro, I knew I wanted to go to the LPGA someday. When you're 14 years old, you're not scared. You just play golf.

Q: How did your goals change over the years as you matured as a pro?
SHL: My goals stayed the same, but other things changed. I learned to practice more. I learned to speak English. I got more fit. Actually, my weight trainer came out on tour this year and helped me. I learned that being fit is important. There is a lot of travel to every tournament and you have to stay fit so you won't get injured.

Q: How different are you now from those early days?
SHL: More people know me. I have more money. Some things are easier. Also, I worked with my coach to have more clubhead speed with my driver so I can hit the ball longer. But some things are the same, too. Just like on the [Duramed] FUTURES Tour, my parents travel with me to every tournament in the van.

Q: When did you decide to come to America to play?
SHL: When I was 18 years old. I knew when I turned pro at age 14 that I would go to the U.S. if I wanted to play on the LPGA Tour. I was a little scared. The first time I got here at age 18, everything was different and new.

Q: How scary was it and what was the biggest adjustment?
SHL: I like American food, but it was a different culture and I didn't speak English. That was really hard.

Q: You played on the Duramed FUTURES Tour for two years before you went to the LPGA Tour. What did that experience teach you?
SHL: It gave me a lot of experience and it is similar to the LPGA. We went to different golf courses all around the U.S. and it was a lot of travel. The Korean LPGA has only about eight to 10 tournaments, the FUTURES Tour has around 19 tournaments and the LPGA now has around 30 tournaments. So you learn to play tournaments for many weeks.

Q: How much confidence did it give you to become the FUTURES Tour's Player of the Year in 2005 and to automatically earn your 2006 LPGA Tour card?
SHL: To finish No. 1, yeah that gave me confidence because it was really good competition. To finish in the top five on the FUTURES Tour money list is hard, so you have to play well every week.

Q: You only won once on the FUTURES Tour in 2005, but you had 13 top-10 finishes in 18 tournaments. Did that consistency teach you something that helped this year on the LPGA Tour?
SHL: I have only had seven top-10 finishes this year on the LPGA Tour, but three times in second place is good. That is consistent. And I make a lot of birdies. This year has been good in many ways.

Q: After all of those runner-up finishes, did you believe you could win this year as a rookie?
SHL: I have a lot of patience, so I just kept trying. I trusted myself. And I just waited for it to happen.

Q: If you had to do it over again, would you still turn pro at 14?
SHL: I don't regret it. I just played and I didn't worry about the money. You can't play golf that way. You can't concentrate. Everything worked out OK.

Q: Why did you turn pro so early? Is that typical in Korea?
SHL: No, just me and [LPGA rookie] Kyeong Bae and another girl. Now, people mostly turn pro when they are 18 on the KLPGA.

Q: Were you able to finish high school?
SHL: Yes. And now I go to college in Korea when I go home. I started two years ago.

Q: Why do you think Korean players have been so successful in golf?
SHL: They just like golf and they like competition. Every Korean player practices a lot. They have a lot of confidence. Plus, Se Ri [Pak] and Grace Park did well on the LPGA and we want that too. Se Ri won the U.S. Women's Open and other tournaments and soon she will be in the [LPGA and World Golf] Hall of Fame. I'm proud of that. She's always nice to the other Korean girls.

Q: Can you imagine being anything other than a golfer?
SHL: I have played golf since I was seven years old. I would have to do something in golf.

Q: Obviously, you proved yourself this season as one of the LPGA's best players. Does your early success surprise you at age 20?
SHL: Yes, I'm really surprised this year. I made my goals. I had a great year. I changed coaches and now I work with Mike Bender, who also teaches [PGA Tour players] Zack Johnson and Lee Janzen. He's a really good teacher and he helped me change my swing plane. We work on my swing and my mental game. That's a big thing because I need more distance and I'm still learning how to increase my clubhead speed to improve my distance. We also have worked hard on putting and my putting has improved, too. I do a lot of putting drills.

Q: Did any of the other players on tour give you any encouragement this year?
SHL: They are always nice to me. Rookies don't know everything. Jeong Jang (JJ) and Jimin Kang are really nice.

Q: Who poured beer on you when you won this year?
SHL: JJ and her caddie.

Q: Playing well on the LPGA Tour allows you to earn a lot of money. Have you made any special purchases this year?
SHL: I have a new house in Florida. I don't have a driver's license yet. So this winter, I'll get a license and then I'll get a car. And I want to get a shi-zhu dog over here to travel with me on tour.

Q: You used to live in California. Why did you make your U.S. home in Florida?
SHL: I like California better because here, it is so hot and humid. But my teacher and weight trainer are here, so Florida is where I need to be.

Q: How did you like the new places that you traveled to this season?
SHL: There were a lot of "first times" to places. In Mexico, I didn't like the weather because it was very dry. I went for a 30-minute run and I almost died. It was a high elevation, so the next day, I just walked. The view was beautiful in France and the hotel was beautiful, but they were very small rooms. It was a five-star hotel, but with no air conditioning. That's weird. In England, everything was old. The hotel, the golf course -- everything was really, really old. I liked Canada. They had a lot of crowds at the golf course and lot of Korean people. I also had a lot of Korean food in Canada.

Q: Do you have a favorite Korean restaurant in the U.S.?
SHL: California is still No. 1 for Korean restaurants, but New York [City] was good during the Sybase tournament. Every week, my mom still takes the rice cooker, little dishes and chopsticks and cooks for me during tournaments. She did that on the FUTURES Tour and now on the LPGA Tour. Sometimes, I eat at regular American restaurants, but my dad doesn't like American food, so we cook in the hotel room and eat a lot of vegetables, rice and fish.

Q: What are the biggest differences between Korea and the U.S.?
SHL: They are just different cultures. Plus, the U.S. is so big and Korea is so little. We have to do a lot more driving and flying over here. And in the U.S., there are so many different kinds of grass. At home, there is only one or two types of grass. Of course, the language is different and I had to learn English. Here, my caddie, weight trainer and coach speak to me in English every day, so that has helped.

Q: You gave your first champion's speech in English last year on the FUTURES Tour. Did it make it any easier to give your winner's speech this year when you won on the LPGA Tour?
SHL: I just used simple sentences. This means a lot to me and my English is getting better. Next year -- or next win -- my sentences will be much longer.

Q: How long have you been sponsored by CJ Corporation?
SHL: I've been with CJ for five years, since I was 15 years old. They are really happy because I won and Se Ri [who is also sponsored by CJ Corporation] won this year's McDonald's LPGA Championship. They said, "Good job!"

Q: Are you excited about going back home to play an LPGA Tour event in Korea?
SHL: Yeah, really excited. I want to see my friends and see Korean movies. I want to see my grandma and cousins and my brother. I just want to go home and relax.

Q: What will be your best memory of 2006?
SHL: Getting my first LPGA win at the ShopRite and shooting a six-under-par 29 on the back nine. I was surprised.

Q: Now that you have won top rookie honors, what are your new goals?
SHL: My new goal will be to win a major championship next year. My big goal will be to make the [LPGA and World Golf] Hall of Fame. And maybe, I can win this year in Korea.

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Lisa D. Mickey is a former senior editor at the Golf Digest Company, where she covered the LPGA Tour for Golf World and Golf For Women magazines. She is a co-author of “Champions of Women's Golf: Celebrating 50 Years of LPGA Golf” (2000) and was a contributing writer of The Solheim Cup coffee-table edition book (2005). She currently writes the web stories for and serves as director of communications for the Duramed FUTURES Tour.