Andrea Lee withdraws from U.S. Women’s Open after testing positive for coronavirus

Andrea Lee of Hermosa Beach, California, has tested positive for coronavirus. As a result, she has been forced to withdraw from the 2020 United States Women’s Open in Houston, Texas, which starts Thursday. She has been replaced in the field by Ayaka Watanabe of Japan.

At the age of 22, Lee is a rookie on the LPGA Tour in 2020.  Her best result was a tie for fifth place at the Marathon Classic in Toledo, Ohio back in August. Lee also had a strong showing this year at the Women’s British Open, where she was tied for seventh. In the first women’s major of the 2020 golf season, Lee was the second best American in the tournament (+2), which was won by Germany’s Sophia Popov. Only Austin Ernst of Greenville, South Carolina had the better American score at even par.

Despite being a rookie on the LPGA Tour, Lee has qualified for three U.S. Women’s Open tournaments in the past–in 2014, 2018, and 2019. In 2014 and 2019 Lee did make the cut, finishing in a tie for 69th and a tie for 60th respectively. Fellow Asian American Michelle Wie, won the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Meanwhile, the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open champion was Jeong-eun Lee of South Korea.

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Lee’s replacement, Watanabe, is 27 years of age. Currently ranked 162nd in the world, Watanabe is a four-time winner of the LPGA of Japan Tour. She won earlier this year at the Earth Mondahmin Cup.

Interestingly, coronavirus has hit the states of California (where Lee is from) and Texas (the same state of the U.S. Women’s Open), extremely hard. California has had the most cases of coronavirus (1,454, 614), while Texas is second (1,396,552).

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