The 21-year-old Lee, the rookie of the year last year after lapping Miyazato to win the final ShopRite LPGA Classic, knocked off the 12th-seeded Miyazato after beating No. 10 Mi Hyun Kim 2-up in an all-South Korean semifinal.

Miyazato won the par-4 14th with a conceded birdie to cut Lee's lead to a hole, but Lee took the par-4 15th with a 6-foot birdie putt after Miyazato missed an 8-footer. They halved the par-5 16th with birdies _ Lee holed a 7-footer and Miyazato followed from 4 feet _ and Lee won with an 8-foot birdie putt on the downhill, par-3 17th. Miyazato had about 5 feet left for birdie, but never got a chance to putt.

Lee took an early 2-up lead on the hilly Wykagyl course, countering a bogey loss on No. 2 with par wins on Nos. 1, 3 and 4. After halving the next six holes, Miyazato took the par-4 11th and Lee won the par-4 12th, both with pars.

The 22-year-old Miyazato, a 14-time champion on the Japanese tour, is winless in 43 career starts on the LPGA Tour, a frustrating streak for the biggest female star in Japanese sports history. She was trying to become the 10th Japanese player to win on the LPGA Tour and first since Akiko Fukushima in 1999.

Last year in the ShopRite Classic, Miyazato had the lead going into the final round, but closed with a 74 to tie for 13th _ nine strokes behind Lee. The young South Korean player finished with a 63 for a three-stroke victory in the Atlantic City event.

Lee earned $500,000 in the $2 million tournament. Seeded 22nd, she beat No. 43 Diana D'Alessio (1-up), No. 54 Janice Moodie (5 and 4), No. 27 Laura Davies (2 and 1), No. 35 Lindsey Wright (3 and 2) and Kim to reach the final.

Miyazato earned $300,000. She beat No. 40 Maria Hjorth 3 and 2 in the morning semifinals.

In the third-place match, Kim birdied the par-5 18th to beat Hjorth 2-up. Kim made $200,000, while Hjorth earned $150,000.<