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In 2011, Minjee came pretty close to winning
the Australian Amateur Championship; she lost on the 38th
hole in the final. She made the semifinal in 2012, but lost
to Korean New Zealand superstar Lydia Ko, who went on to take
the title.
But Minjee's 2012 got better after that. In
the summer, she played at the US Girls Junior, and took the
title when she first beat Ariya Jutanugarn in the semifinals,
then Korean American Alison Lee (who had beaten Ko) in the
finals.
Minjee added the Australian Amateur title
at last to her trophy case in 2013. After two near misses,
she cruised to a 6 & 5 win in the final over Australian
Jenny Lee. The next week, she contended at the New South Wales
Open, a professional event. Tied for the lead going into the
final round, she ended up third, her best finish yet in a
pro event. Only the 2011 champion, Caroline Hedwall, and the
defending champ, Lydia Ko, finished ahead of her. In her next
event, the Volvik RACV Australian Ladies Masters, she finished
tied for 16th.
Lee kept racking up wins in amateur golf
throughout 2013. Among her triumphs were wins at the Western
Australia Amateur Championship, the Rene Erichson Salver and
the Australian Girls Amateur Championship. She also reached
the round of 16 at the US Women's Amateur, and teamed with
Su Hyun Oh to help Australia capture the Queen Sirikit Cup.
She finished the 2013 season the 4th ranked women amateur
in the world.
In 2014, Minjee took another quantum leap
forward in her game. She started the year by repeating as
the Australian Women's Amateur champion. She then played several
professional events, excelling in all of them. At the New
South Wales Open in late January, she finished tied for 5th.
At the RACV Australian Ladies Masters, however, she was brilliant,
contending the entire week and coming up just short to Cheyenne
Woods, finishing second - her best ever professional result.
The next week, she again found herself in the final group
on Sunday, this time at the Austrlian Women's Open, her first
LPGA event. Tied with Chella Choi going into the final day,
she managed to stay atop the leaderboard until the tough conditions
finally wore her down with a few holes to play. She wound
up tied for 11th.
Minjee would not have long to wait to avenge
that loss, however. In her next pro event, the ALPG's Victorian
Open, Lee zoomed to a three shot lead after three rounds,
with fellow am Oh in third. But Minjee would not be denied
this time: on the final day she shot a scintillating six under
par 68 to crush the field by six for her first pro win. Several
thousand fans followed her the entire day, and Lee has become
a big story down under. Her win also elevated her to the #1
spot in women's amateur golf.
Lee focused on professional events for the
rest of her amateur career, with good results. She played
four Majors in 2014, missing the cut at the British, but notching
top 25 finishes in the Evian, US Women's Open and Kraft Nabisco
(her best finish was a T-16th at the Evian, her first event
as a pro). She was the low amateur in the Open and Kraft.
Lee did play in one more important amateur
event: the Women's World Amateur Team Golf Championship, or
the Espirito Santo Cup. Teaming with fellow Korean Aussie
amateur stars Shelly Shin and Su Hyun Oh, Australia launched
a massive final round comeback - spearheaded by Minjee's 65
and Oh's 66 - which resulted in Australia capturing the cup.
She immediately turned pro after that and played in the Evian.
Minjee also was on Team Australia at the
International Crown; she was the only amateur in that event.
But Australia did not make it to the final round.
In the Winter, Minjee attended LPGA Q-School.
She ended up tying Korean American amateur Alison Lee for
the top spot, earning her tour card for 2015.
Minjee struggled a tad early in her rookie
season. After a top ten in Australia, she finished 30th in
Singapore, then missed three straight cuts. She had two top
twenties, then another missed cut. But everything came together
for her in May at the Kingsmill Championship. Rain delayed
the end of the tournament until Monday, but as light waned
on Sunday, Minjee went on a tear, amassing a large lead on
the back of multiple birdies and an eagle. So Yeon Ryu made
a run at her the next day, but Lee held on and collected her
first career LPGA win.
Lee went on to make 7 top tens during the
year. She did well at the Majors, with a top ten at the British
and two more that just missed the top ten at the KPMG and
Evian. She made over $800K and finished 16th on the money
list. Amazingly, that was only good enough for third in the
rookie standings behind Hyo Joo Kim and Sei Young Kim.
Minjee also became the top Australian women's
golfer in the Rolex rankings, climbing ahead of Karrie Webb,
who had been number one for more than a decade.
Minjee had an even better second year on
tour. She managed to improve her scoring average considerably,
while earning $1.2 million and finishing four spots better
on the money list (12th) than she had as a rookie.
Lee started the year solidly but unspectacularly
with a number of top 30 finishes but only one top ten. But
all of a sudden, she caught fire. At the Lotte Championship
in Hawaii, she put herself in the hunt from the get go, but
seemed out of it following a third round 74. Not to worry:
she came roaring from behind with a final round 64 to surprise
In Gee Chun and capture her second career LPGA win.
Lee returned to OK but not great golf after
that, but did get to go to the Olympics, where she notched
a tie for 7th place finish. After a tie for second at the
Manulife, Minjee's next great tournament came at the Blue
Bay in China. She took a strong lead after two rounds, struggled
in round 3, then managed to hang tough to eke out the win,
her second of the year.
Minjee had one other amazing highlight. At
the Kia Classic, she became the second woman in LPGA history
to make a hole-in-one on a par 4 hole (an 'albatross'). Interestingly,
the first woman to do it, Ha Na Jang, made her albatross only
a couple of months earlier.
Minjee had another great season in 2017.
She had her best ever scoring average by several tenths of
a stroke: 70.18. She did not manage to win, but she had the
most top tens she ever had in a season, 10. Her money total
was just a hair below her best, over a million dollars. She
was 16th on the money list.
Minjee's best week came at the ANA Inspiration.
She was actually in the lead at times during the final round,
but finished just out of the playoff with So Yeon Ryu and
Lexi Thompson. Her tie for third was her best ever Major result.
Minjee had her best season to date in 2018,
rising into the top five in the world rankings for the first
time in her career. She earned a career best $1.5 million,
second on the money list. She also broke 70 for the first
time in scoring average with a 69.75, also second in the league
for the year. She had 13 top tens, her best ever season.
Her biggest highlight of the year came when
she won her 4th career victory at the Volvik Championship
in May, but she missed out on a second win at the Mediheal
when Lydia Ko beat her in a playoff. She also finished 2nd
at the Scottish Open and the Toto Japan Classic. She had 2
additional third place results.
Minjee also played at the OrangeLife Champions
Trophy, representing the LPGA, and at the International Crown
for Australia. She teamed with Eun Hee Ji in a win over Char
Young Kim and Ji Young Kim, and won with Sung Hyun Park over
Ha Na Jang and Da Yeon Lee. In singles, she tied Ji Hyun Kim
2. She won the MVP award for the LPGA, who won the event 13-11.
2019 was pretty much the same for Minjee
as 2018. She finished 8th on the money list with over $1.5
million earned. Her scoring average was just fractions of
a stroke worse than 2018. She had 9 total top tens, including
another win.
The win came at the HUGEL-AIR PREMIA LA Open
in late April. She also had four runner up finishes and two
thirds. Her world ranking got as high as #3. While at that
pinnacle, world #2 Jin Young Ko teamed with 'The Minjee' (as
Ko humorously dubbed her) at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational,
a team event. In the final round, the two superstars, who
dubbed their team 'Holy Ko-Lee', shot a 58, the first such
score in LPGA history. They finished second that week.
About the only bad thing in 2019 was Lee's
continued inability to win a Major. It was especially glaring
because in 2019 another Aussie, Hannah Green, captured the
KPMG. Lee's best Major finish in 2019 was a tie for 11th at
the Women's British Open.
Minjee also played for the losing LPGA team
at the OrangeLife Champions Trophy event. She teamed with
Lydia Ko to win 3 & 1 over Ji Young Kim and Ye Rim Choi,
lost 5 & 4 teamed with Lydia against Hee Jeong Lim and
Min Ji Park, and lost 2 & 1 to Lim in singles.
In 2020, the whole world was rocked by the
Covid-19 pandemic. The LPGA and KLPGA tours canceled and postponed
many tournaments. Minjee played two events in Australia, then
did not play again until late July. She did not win in 2020,
but had five top tens, including a third at the year's first
Major, the British Women's Open, where she was in contention
much of the week before falling to unheralded German Sophia
Popov. In all, she earned over $724,000 for the year, 8th
on the money list.
Minjee started 2021 with a top 5 at the Kia
Classic in March, but after that was quiet other than a decent
run at the Match Play in May, where she just missed a final
four spot. But she caught fire in the second half of the year,
starting with a third 5th place at the team event in July.
But her biggest splash came at the Evian in late July. She
put together three strong rounds, but even so was 7 shots
behind leader Jeongeun Lee6 entering the final day. But Six
struggled early and Minjee took advantage, charging into the
lead by the turn. Lee6 rallied and forced a playoff, but hit
her second shot on the playoff hole into the water, giving
Minjee her first career Major win at last.
That was Minjee's only win of the year, but
she followed it with another t-5th at the next Major, the
British Women's Open, and not long after that nearly won in
Arkansas, finishing t-2nd after a week that included her all
time best score, a 63. In all, Minjee earned $1.54 million,
close to her career best, and finished 4th on the money list.
Minjee also represented Australia at the Olympics
for the second straight time; she finished tied for 29th.
She also played on the KLPGA at the Hana Financial Tour Championship.
She wound up in a playoff with the tour's top rookie, Ga Eun
Song, but lost in three holes.
Meanwhile, Minjee got to enjoy the exploits
of her younger brother, Min Woo, who became a pro golfer on
the European tour in 2019. He had won the men's part of the
Vic Open back in 2020, and in 2021 followed that up with a
win at the Scottish Open. 2021 was a good year for the Lee
family!
Minjee had her best season yet in 2022, but
once again she found herself playing second fiddle most of
the year, this time to a pair of women named Ko. At the start
of the year, Jin Young Ko was the dominant force in women's
golf, but Minjee was nabbing a lot of headlines of her own.
She shot a final round 63 at the HSBC Women's World Championship,
her first event of the season, and nearly stole the win away
from Ko. She played well through the Spring, with several
more top fifteen finishes. Finally, she grabbed her first
win of the year at the Founder's Cup, an event where Ko had
been the defending champ. Lee started inching closer to at
last becoming the #1 women's golfer in the world for the first
time.
Her highlight of the year came in June at
the US Women's Open. She staked herself out to a strong lead
going into the final round and was just too strong to be caught.
It was her second career Major and first US Women's Open,
and with Jin Young struggling, Minjee seemed primed to become
the #1 soon. She bolstered her case by nearly coming from
behind and winning the KPMG, but In Gee Chun held on and Lee
finished tied for second. She also finished tied for 4th at
the British Women's Open, just missing out on the playoff
Chun lost to Ashley Buhai. Minjee won the Annika award for
best performance in the Majors in 2022.
But just as she seemed primed to take over
the game, Lydia Ko started to surge. Ko won the year's final
event to overtake Minjee on the money list and to leapfrog
to the #1 world ranking. Meanwhile, Minjee started to struggle
in her game. After withdrawing from the Canadian Women's Open
in late August, she did not have another top 30 finish the
rest of the year. It's quite possible she was dealing with
injuries. She eventually fell to a world ranking of 4.
Still, it was a career defining year for Minjee.
Two wins, one Major, the Annika Award, three top fives in
Majors, and her all time best season money total of over $3.8
million (she is only the third woman of Korean ethnicity to
break $3 million beside the two Kos).
2023 was not as amazing a year for Minjee
as 2022, but she still had a bunch of highlights. She only
managed five top tens all year, but had seven additional top
20s. Her year started slowly, and she didn't have a great
week until May at the Cognizant Founders Cup. She took a four-shot
lead into the final round, but Jin Young Ko shot the round
of the day to catch her and forced a playoff, which she won.
Minjee then had top 20s at the next three Majors but didn't
contend at them.
She finally got into gear at the Kroger Queen
City Championship in September. Thanks to a third round 65,
she got her first win of the year there. A few weeks later,
at the BMW Championship in Korea in October, she won her first
career victory in the homeland of her parents. She finished
the year with a tie for 8th at the CME Group Tour Championship.
So, she wound up with two wins, five top tens,
and $1.650 million earned (12th on the money list). She finished
4th in the world rankings, the highest ranked woman of Korean
ethnicity in the world.
Minjee also represented Australia at the International
Crown. They got off to a great start by sweeping defending
champion South Korea. Australia made it into the final four
and swept Sweden in the semifinals to face Thailand in the
finals. Alas, that's where their luck ran out, and Thailand
swept them to win the Crown.
Minjee also played an event on the KLPGA,
the Hana Financial Group Championship. She got into a playoff
with Da Yeon Lee and Patty Tavatanakit, but missed two short
putts, one for the win, and Da Yeon Lee claimed the title.
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