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.

Lee at the LPGA International Crown Pro-Am in 2014

Minjee Lee
Personal information
Born (1996-05-27) 27 May 1996
Perth, Western Australia
Nationality Australia
Career
Turned professional2014
Current tour(s)LPGA Tour
Professional wins8
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour5
Ladies European Tour2
ALPG Tour2
Best results in LPGA major championships
ANA InspirationT3: 2017
Women's PGA C'shipT12: 2016
U.S. Women's OpenT11: 2017
Women's British Open3rd: 2020
Evian ChampionshipT11: 2015
Achievements and awards
Greg Norman Medal2018

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

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.YearTournamentOpponent(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.

Tournament2014201520162017201820192020
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

  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
"T" = tied

Summary
TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
ANA Inspiration00112576
U.S. Women's Open00000376
Women's PGA Championship00000366
The Evian Championship00000365
Women's British Open00113575
Totals00225193328
  • 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
YearTournaments
played		Cuts
made		Wins2nd3rdTop 10sBest
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.

YearWorld
ranking		Source
201518[15]
201617[16]
201719[17]
20186[18]
20199[19]
20208[20]
20218 ^[21]

^ As of 25 January 2021

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

References
  1. 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.
  2. Quartermain, Glen (1 February 2015). "The rise and rise of WA teen golfer Minjee Lee, president of the club". PerthNow. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  3. Blake, Martin (24 May 2019). "Minjee Lee, the invisible champion without an Australian sponsor". The Age. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  4. "Minjee Lee Claims U.S. Girls' Junior". USGA. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  5. Kroichick, Ron (21 July 2012). "Australia's Lee wins girls' golf title". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  6. "Smith and Lee crowned Amateur champions". Golf Australia. 22 January 2013. Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  7. "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.
  8. "Minjee Lee and Patrick Rodgers take the WAGR Number 1 spots". World Amateur Golf Ranking. 26 February 2014.
  9. Nichols, Beth Ann (6 September 2014). "Australian standout Minjee Lee turns pro". Golfweek.
  10. "In the winner's circle with Minjee Lee". LPGA Communications. 28 April 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  11. "Rio 2016: Emma Moffatt finishes sixth in Olympic triathlon, Minjee Lee seventh in golf". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  12. "Minjee Lee: 2018 Scoring Average". LPGA. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  13. "Australia's Min Woo Lee wins US Junior Amateur". Associated Press. 24 July 2016.
  14. "Minjee Lee statistics and results". LPGA. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  15. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 28 December 2015.
  16. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 31 December 2016.
  17. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 31 December 2017.
  18. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 31 December 2018.
  19. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 30 December 2019.
  20. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 28 December 2020.
  21. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 25 January 2021.
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