Andrea Lee of Hermosa Beach, California has won the Mark H McCormack Medal as the leading women’s player in the 2019 World Amateur Golf Ranking™ (WAGR™).

Lee will be awarded exemptions into the 2020 AIG Women’s British Open and the US Women’s Open, if she remains an amateur, as well as an invitation to join the 2020 USA Curtis Cup Team.

The 20-yeard-old had an outstanding year, most recently topped by a semi-final appearance at the 2019 US Women’s Amateur Championship. Two weeks earlier, the rising Stanford senior earned a third place finish at the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship. She was one of five amateurs to make the cut in the 2019 US Women’s Open at the Country Club of Charleston.

Additionally, Lee spent seven weeks as the No. 1 player in WAGR™ this past year and spent most of the past two years ranked inside the top five.

“To receive the McCormack Medal is such a great honour and is one of the most rewarding achievements of my amateur career,” said Lee. “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 is one of the most decorated golfers in Stanford history having tied the college record with eight individual victories. She earned first-team WGCA All-America honours for the third straight year and was one of five finalists for the Annika Award, given annually to the most outstanding women’s player of the year.

She has been a member of two USA Curtis Cup Teams, including last summer’s record-setting victory at Quaker Ridge Golf Club.

The R&A and the USGA co-award the McCormack Medal annually. It is named after Mark H McCormack who founded sports marketing company IMG and was a great supporter of amateur golf.

“Andrea has excelled over the last year and her results show that she is a worthy winner of the McCormack Medal,” said Duncan Weir, Executive Director – Golf Development and Amateur Championships at The R&A. “We wish to congratulate Andrea on this wonderful achievement as she follows in the footsteps of Lydia Ko, Minjee Lee, Leona Maguire and Jennifer Kupcho as a recipient of this award.”

“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.”

The World Amateur Golf Ranking™, which is supported by Rolex, was established in 2007 when the men’s ranking was launched. The men’s ranking encompasses more than 2,800 counting events, ranking 6,400 players from 106 countries. The women’s ranking was launched in 2011 and has a calendar of more than 1,650 counting events with more than 3,300 ranked players from 78 countries.