Minjee Lee
Minjee Lee (born 27 May 1996) is an Australian professional golfer from Perth. She became the number one ranked amateur golfer in February 2014 after winning the Oates Victorian Open, remaining number one until turning professional in September 2014.
| Minjee Lee | |||
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg.webp) | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Born | 27 May 1996 Perth, Western Australia | ||
| Nationality | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia | ||
| Career | |||
| Turned professional | 2014 | ||
| Current tour(s) | LPGA Tour | ||
| Professional wins | 8 | ||
| Number of wins by tour | |||
| LPGA Tour | 5 | ||
| Ladies European Tour | 2 | ||
| ALPG Tour | 2 | ||
| Best results in LPGA major championships | |||
| ANA Inspiration | T3: 2017 | ||
| Women's PGA C'ship | T12: 2016 | ||
| U.S. Women's Open | T11: 2017 | ||
| Women's British Open | 3rd: 2020 | ||
| Evian Championship | T11: 2015 | ||
| Achievements and awards | |||
| |||
Amateur career
In 2010, Lee became the youngest winner of the WA Amateur Open while still a year 9 student at Methodist Ladies' College, Perth.[1] At the start of 2012, she was moved from MLC to Corpus Christi College, to be closer to her golf course at Royal Fremantle Golf Club. She left Corpus Christi in 2013.[2][3]
Lee was the winner of the 2012 U.S. Girls' Junior.[4][5] She won the Australian Women's Amateur in 2013[6] and successfully defended the title in 2014.[7]
Lee became the number one ranked amateur golfer on 26 February 2014 after winning the Oates Victorian Open on the ALPG Tour.[8] She remained the number one ranked amateur golfer until she turned professional in September 2014 after leading the Australia team that won the Espirito Santo Trophy.[9]
Professional career
On 18 May 2015, Lee gained her first LPGA Tour victory – the Kingsmill Championship.[10] In 2016, she won the Lotte Championship in April, and the Blue Bay LPGA tournament in October.[10] Lee represented Australia in the women's golf competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, finishing in a tie for 7th.[11]
In April 2018, she lost the LPGA Mediheal Championship in a playoff to Lydia Ko, then on 27 May 2018, won the LPGA Volvik Championship.[10] Lee finished 2018 ranked second on the money list with $1,551,032 in earnings, finishing second in scoring average with 69.75 shots per round.[12] She also became the first woman to win the Greg Norman Medal for being the best Australian professional golfer on the world stage.[3]
On 28 April 2019, Lee won the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open, her fifth LPGA Tour victory.[10] By late the following month, she had risen to number two in the Women's World Golf Rankings, but in her home country she still had such a low profile that she was described by The Age as the "Invisible Champion of Australia".[3]
Personal life
Lee's younger brother, Min Woo Lee, won the 2016 U.S. Junior Amateur, making them the first brother/sister pair to win the USGA's junior championships.[13]
Amateur wins
- 2010 Western Australia Women's Amateur
- 2011 Handa Junior Masters, Western Australia Women's Amateur, Singapore Ladies Amateur, Srixon International Junior Classic, Tasmanian Stroke Play Championship
- 2012 U.S. Girls' Junior, Tasmanian Stroke Play Championship
- 2013 Australian Women's Amateur, Western Australia Women's Amateur, Rene Erichsen Salver, Australian Girls' Amateur, Dunes Medal
- 2014 Australian Women's Amateur
Professional wins (8)
LPGA Tour wins (5)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 May 2015 | Kingsmill Championship | 68-67-69-65=269 | −15 | 2 strokes |  Ryu So-yeon |
| 2 | 16 Apr 2016 | Lotte Championship | 68-66-74-64=272 | −16 | 1 stroke |  Katie Burnett Chun In-gee |
| 3 | 23 Oct 2016 | Blue Bay LPGA | 65-67-73-70=275 | −13 | 1 stroke | Jessica Korda |
| 4 | 27 May 2018 | LPGA Volvik Championship | 67-69-68-68=272 | −16 | 1 stroke | In-Kyung Kim |
| 5 | 28 Apr 2019 | Hugel-Air Premia LA Open | 66-69-67-68=270 | −14 | 4 strokes | Kim Sei-young |
LPGA Tour playoff record (0–2)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2018 | LPGA Mediheal Championship |  Lydia Ko |
Lost to eagle on first extra hole |
| 2 | 2019 | Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA | Nelly Korda Caroline Masson |
Korda won with birdie on first extra hole |
Ladies European Tour wins (2)
ALPG Tour wins (2)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 Feb 2014 | Oates Victorian Open (as an amateur) |
73-70-68-68=279 | −16 | 6 strokes |  Vikki Laing |
| 2 | 4 Feb 2018 | Oates Victorian Open^ | 70-67-75-67=279 | −13 | 5 strokes | Karis Davidson |
^ Co-sanctioned by the ALPG Tour and the Ladies European Tour.
Results in LPGA majors
Results not in chronological order before 2019 or in 2020.
| Tournament | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANA Inspiration | T24LA | CUT | T26 | T3 | T25 | T21 | T7 |
| U.S. Women's Open | T22 | CUT | T46 | T11 | T34 | T12 | T46 |
| Women's PGA Championship | T13 | T12 | T36 | T25 | T30 | T58 | |
| The Evian Championship | T16 | T11 | T67 | T32 | T16 | CUT | NT |
| Women's British Open | CUT | T9 | T25 | CUT | 10 | T11 | 3 |
LA = Low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
"T" = tied
Summary
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANA Inspiration | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 |
| U.S. Women's Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 |
| Women's PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| The Evian Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 5 |
| Women's British Open | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 19 | 33 | 28 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 10 (2015 British Open – 2017 U.S. Open)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2020 British Open - 2020 ANA)
LPGA Tour career summary
| Year | Tournaments played | Cuts made | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top 10s | Best finish | Birdies (rank) | Earnings ($) | Money list rank | Scoring average | Scoring rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 29 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 377 (6) |
821,121 | 16 | 70.88 | 15 |
| 2016 | 27 | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 402 (4) |
1,213,902 | 12 | 70.42 | 13 |
| 2017 | 26 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 376 (6) |
1,027,941 | 16 | 70.18 | 15 |
| 2018 | 27 | 25 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 414 (2) |
1,551,032 | 2 | 69.75 | 2 |
| 2019 | 26 | 24 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 379 (7) |
1,522,607 | 8 | 69.01 | 9 |
| 2020 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 208 (1) |
724,273 | 8 | 70.70 | 11 |
^ Official as of 2020 season[14]
World rank
Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.
| Year | World ranking | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 18 | [15] |
| 2016 | 17 | [16] |
| 2017 | 19 | [17] |
| 2018 | 6 | [18] |
| 2019 | 9 | [19] |
| 2020 | 8 | [20] |
| 2021 | 8 ^ | [21] |
^ As of 25 January 2021
Team appearances
Amateur
- Espirito Santo Trophy (representing Australia): 2012, 2014 (winners)
Professional
- International Crown (representing Australia): 2014 (as an amateur), 2016, 2018
References
- Rickard, Jayne (1 April 2011). "Teenage golfer is WA classic favourite". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
- Quartermain, Glen (1 February 2015). "The rise and rise of WA teen golfer Minjee Lee, president of the club". PerthNow. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
- Blake, Martin (24 May 2019). "Minjee Lee, the invisible champion without an Australian sponsor". The Age. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
- "Minjee Lee Claims U.S. Girls' Junior". USGA. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
- Kroichick, Ron (21 July 2012). "Australia's Lee wins girls' golf title". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
- "Smith and Lee crowned Amateur champions". Golf Australia. 22 January 2013. Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
- "Lee and Koh cruise to Australian Amateur victories". Golf Australia. 19 January 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
- "Minjee Lee and Patrick Rodgers take the WAGR Number 1 spots". World Amateur Golf Ranking. 26 February 2014.
- Nichols, Beth Ann (6 September 2014). "Australian standout Minjee Lee turns pro". Golfweek.
- "In the winner's circle with Minjee Lee". LPGA Communications. 28 April 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
- "Rio 2016: Emma Moffatt finishes sixth in Olympic triathlon, Minjee Lee seventh in golf". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
- "Minjee Lee: 2018 Scoring Average". LPGA. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- "Australia's Min Woo Lee wins US Junior Amateur". Associated Press. 24 July 2016.
- "Minjee Lee statistics and results". LPGA. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
- "Women's World Golf Rankings". 28 December 2015.
- "Women's World Golf Rankings". 31 December 2016.
- "Women's World Golf Rankings". 31 December 2017.
- "Women's World Golf Rankings". 31 December 2018.
- "Women's World Golf Rankings". 30 December 2019.
- "Women's World Golf Rankings". 28 December 2020.
- "Women's World Golf Rankings". 25 January 2021.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Minjee Lee. |
- Minjee Lee at the LPGA Tour official site
- Minjee Lee at the ALPG Tour official site