Minjee Lee

Minjee Lee
Personal information
Born	(1996-05-27) 27 May 1996 (age 28) Perth, Western Australia
Sporting nationality	Australia
Career
Turned professional	2014
Current tour(s)	LPGA Tour
Professional wins	13
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour	10
Ladies European Tour	2
ALPG Tour	2
Best results in LPGA major championships (wins: 2)
Chevron Championship	T3: 2017
Women's PGA C'ship	T2: 2022
U.S. Women's Open	Won: 2022
Women's British Open	3rd: 2020
Evian Championship	Won: 2021
Achievements and awards
Greg Norman Medal 2018, 2021, 2023 Rolex Annika Major Award 2022

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. On 25 July 2021, Lee won her first major championship, the Amundi Evian Championship. On 5 June 2022, she won her second major championship, the U.S. Women's Open.

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 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

2015

On 18 May 2015, Lee gained her first LPGA Tour victory at the Kingsmill Championship. ^[10]

2016

In 2016, she won the Lotte Championship in April, and the Blue Bay LPGA 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]

2018

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]

2019

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]

2021

On 25 July 2021, Lee won her first major championship, the Amundi Evian Championship, by coming from seven strokes behind in the final round and defeating Lee Jeong-eun on the first playoff hole. ^[13]

Lee qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and competed in the women's competition. She scored −4 across the four rounds and finished 29th, out of medal contention. ^[14]

Minjee Lee at the 2022 KPMG Women's PGA Championship

2022

She won her seventh LPGA Tour event, the Cognizant Founders Cup, on 15 May 2022, beating Lexi Thompson by two strokes, 269 (19-under-par) to Thompson's 271. Her final round of 70 was the only one she did not have in the 60s. The start of the final round was delayed by an hour because of fog. She was ranked fifth in the world before her win, just behind fourth-ranked Atthaya Thitikul ^[15] who finished the final round with a 63, good for a tie for eighth place at 13-under-par. ^[16]

Her eighth LPGA Tour win, the U.S. Women's Open on 5 June 2022, earned her the largest payday to date in women's golf history, $1.8 million of the $10 million total purse. Lee won by four strokes over Mina Harigae, who received $1,080,000. This was the first occasion in a women's golf tournament where there were two prizes in excess of $1 million. Lee set a new record of 271, and led Harigae by three strokes after 54 holes. ^[17]

On 15 November, she won the season-long Aon Risk Reward Challenge and $1,000,000 for the 2022 LPGA Tour season. ^[18] This challenge selects one hole in every participating event and designates it as the Aon Risk Reward hole for that week. The challenge rewards the player who has the best two scores from every participating event that a player competes in throughout the season, measured by the lowest average score to par on these holes. ^[19]

Personal life

Lee's parents, Soonam and Clara Lee, were both from Korea, and emigrated to Australia in the early 1990s. ^[20] 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. ^[21]

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 (13)

LPGA Tour wins (10)

Legend
Major championships (2)
Other LPGA Tour (8)

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
6	25 Jul 2021	Amundi Evian Championship	68-69-65-64=266	−18	Playoff	Lee Jeong-eun
7	15 May 2022	Cognizant Founders Cup	67-63-69-70=269	−19	2 strokes	Lexi Thompson
8	5 June 2022	U.S. Women's Open	67-66-67-71=271	−13	4 strokes	Mina Harigae
9	10 Sep 2023	Kroger Queen City Championship	67-69-65-71=272	−16	Playoff	Charley Hull
10	22 Oct 2023	BMW Ladies Championship	64-69-71-68=272	−16	Playoff	Alison Lee

LPGA Tour playoff record (3–3)

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
3	2021	Amundi Evian Championship	Lee Jeong-eun	Won with birdie on first extra hole
4	2023	Cognizant Founders Cup	Ko Jin-young	Lost to par on first extra hole
5	2023	Kroger Queen City Championship	Charley Hull	Won with birdie on second extra hole
6	2023	BMW Ladies Championship	Alison Lee	Won with birdie on first extra hole

Ladies European Tour wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	4 Feb 2018	Oates Vic Open [1]	70-67-75-67=279	−13	5 strokes	Karis Davidson
2	6 Nov 2020	Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic	72-65-69=206	−10	Playoff	Céline Boutier

¹ Co-sanctioned by the ALPG Tour.

LET playoff record (1–0)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	2020	Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic	Céline Boutier	Won with birdie on first extra hole

ALPG Tour wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	23 Feb 2014	Oates Vic Open a	73-70-68-68=279	−16	6 strokes	Vikki Laing
2	4 Feb 2018	Oates Vic Open [2]	70-67-75-67=279	−13	5 strokes	Karis Davidson

^a Lee won the 2014 Oates Vic Open as an amateur.
² Co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour.

Major championships

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
2021	The Evian Championship	7 shot deficit	–18 (68-69-65-64=266)	Playoff	Lee Jeong-eun
2022	U.S. Women's Open	3 shot lead	–13 (67-66-67-71=271)	4 strokes	Mina Harigae

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order before 2019 or in 2020.

! Tournament	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Chevron Championship	T24LA	CUT	T26	T3	T25	T21	T7	T25	12	T41	CUT
U.S. Women's Open	T22	CUT	T46	T11	T34	T12	T46	T54	1	T13	T9
Women's PGA Championship		T13	T12	T36	T25	T30	T58	T40	T2	T20	T24
The Evian Championship	T16	T11	T67	T32	T16	CUT	NT	1	T43	T16	T49
Women's British Open	CUT	T9	T25	CUT	10	T11	3	T5	T4	T50	CUT

  Win

  Top 10

  Did not play

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
Chevron Championship	0	0	1	1	2	6	10	8
U.S. Women's Open	1	0	0	1	2	6	11	10
Women's PGA Championship	0	1	0	1	1	6	10	10
The Evian Championship	1	0	0	1	1	5	10	9
Women's British Open	0	0	1	3	5	7	11	8
Totals	2	1	2	7	11	30	52	45

• Most consecutive cuts made – 20 (2019 British – 2023 British)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (three times)

LPGA Tour career summary

Year	Tournaments played	Cuts made	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top 10s	Best finish	Earnings ($)	Money list rank	Scoring average	Scoring rank
2013	1	1	0	0	0	0	T55	n/a	n/a	72.25	n/a
2014	6	5	0	0	0	0	T11	n/a	n/a	71.77	n/a
2015	29	24	1	0	0	7	1	821,121	16	70.89	15
2016	27	26	2	1	0	8	1	1,213,902	12	70.42	13
2017	26	22	0	1	3	10	T2	1,027,941	16	70.18	15
2018	27	25	1	3	2	13	1	1,551,032	2	69.75	2
2019	26	24	1	4	2	9	1	1,522,607	8	69.91	9
2020	16	16	0	0	2	5	3	724,273	8	70.71	11
2021	18	16	1	1	0	7	1	1,542,332	4	70.32	22
2022	20	18	2	2	1	6	1	3,809,960	2	69.69	7
2023	18	18	2	1	0	5	1	1,650,975	12	70.42	21
2024	21	16	0	0	0	4	T4	881,946	43	71.22	49
2025	2	2				1	T4	131,225	7	69.13	19
Totals^	229 (2015)	207 (2015)	10	13	10	73	1	14,877,314	7

^{^} Official as of 9 February 2025 ^{[22] [23] [24]}

World ranking

Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.

Year	World ranking	Source
2015	18	[25]
2016	17	[26]
2017	19	[27]
2018	6	[28]
2019	9	[29]
2020	8	[30]
2021	7	[31]
2022	4	[32]
2023	4	[33]
2024	18^	[34]

^ As of 10 February 2025

Team appearances

Amateur

• Espirito Santo Trophy (representing Australia): 2012, 2014 (winners)
• Astor Trophy (representing Australia): 2011
• Queen Sirikit Cup (representing Australia): 2013 (winners)

Professional

• International Crown (representing Australia): 2014 (as an amateur), 2016, 2018, 2023

See also

• List of golfers with most LPGA major championship wins
• List of golfers with most LPGA Tour wins

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. 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. "Lee wins her 1st major after beating Lee6 in playoff". LPGA. Associated Press. 25 July 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
14. "Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo 2021". The Roar. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
15. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 9 May 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
16. "Minjee Lee Hangs On, Wins Cognizant Founders Cup Over Thompson". LPGA. 15 May 2022.
17. Reed, Steve (5 June 2002). "Awesome Aussie: Lee wins U.S. Women's Open, record $1.8M". Associated Press. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
18. "Minjee Lee Wins The LPGA Tour AON Risk Reward Challenge And 1 Million Prize". LPGA. 15 November 2022.
19. "AON Risk Reward Challenge". LPGA. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
20. "Minjee Lee, the invisible champion without an Australian sponsor". SMH. 24 July 2016.
21. "Australia's Min Woo Lee wins US Junior Amateur". Associated Press News. 24 May 2019.
22. "Minjee Lee statistics". LPGA. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
23. "Minjee Lee results". LPGA. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
24. "Career money (select from pick list)". LPGA. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
25. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 28 December 2015.
26. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 31 December 2016.
27. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 31 December 2017.
28. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 31 December 2018.
29. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 30 December 2019.
30. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 28 December 2020.
31. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 27 December 2021.
32. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 26 December 2022.
33. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 25 December 2023.
34. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 10 February 2025.

External links

• Minjee Lee at the LPGA Tour official site
• Minjee Lee at the WPGA Tour Australasia official site
• Minjee Lee at the ALPG Tour official site (archived)
• Minjee Lee at the Women's World Golf Rankings official site