Minjee Lee just turned 22 years old and has already won four LPGA tournaments. That’s a remarkable record by any standard but Lee has never quite attracted the spotlight the way some of the sport’s other young stars have, Lydia Ko, for instance, or Michelle Wie a few years ago.
But with little fanfare, Lee is making herself into one of the best players in the world. After winning the LPGA Volvik Invitational in Michigan this past week, on her birthday no less, she arrived at the U.S. Women’s Open ranked eighth in the Rolex world rankings.
The win in Michigan was her first in 19 months but she could sense her time was at hand. “I felt like I’d been playing really well,” she said, “I had a lot of top-10 finishes coming off last year and even at the beginning of this year. I (felt like) it was due soon, it’s really nice to have a win.”
A native of Perth, Australia, Lee was introduced to golf by her mother, who was a golf instructor at the time. Her talents were evident early on.
In 2010 she became the youngest player in history to win the Western Australia Women’s Amateur title. She successfully defended her title the following year. Two years later, as a 16-year old, she won the U.S. Girls’ Junior. In 2013 she won the first of back-to-back Australian Women’s Amateur titles.
By late February of 2014, Lee was the top-ranked female amateur in the world. That summer, she was named to the four-woman Australian team that competed in the inaugural International Crown in Baltimore, the only amateur among the 32 players in the competition, which brought together many of the best players on the planet.
“I think International Crown is great,” Lee said. You get to represent your country and play alongside your teammates. There isn’t any other event on the LPGA quite like it, so it’s a lot of fun. The format is different and I think the fans really enjoy watching a team event like that.”
Lee played alongside LPGA and World Golf Hall of Famer Karrie Webb who has achieved iconic status in Australia, in part because of her magnificent playing record that includes 41 LPGA wins, but also because of her steadfast support for up and coming golfers in her homeland.
“It’s always great to play alongside Karrie,” Lee said. “She’s been a great role model for me and just being able to play with one of Australia’s greats is awesome.
“Karrie is one of the best golfers to come out of Australia. I think we are very fortunate to have such a great role model to look up to. Karrie has such amazing achievements and I think we all admire what she has done so far in her career and aspire to be like her.”
In September of that year, Lee helped Australia come from seven shots off the pace on the final day to win the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship in Japan.
Lee actually made seven LPGA starts and won an Australian professional event while still an amateur but she made her official professional debut in September 2014 at the Evian Championship in France where she tied for 16th before claiming an LPGA Tour card later that fall by earning co-medalist honors at the final stage of Q-School
Her first win came the following May at the Kingsmill Championship in Williamsburg when she bested So Yeon Ryu by two shots.
Like so many other players before and sine, Lee found that having a win on her resume gave her confidence level a big boost.
“Winning on the LPGA is really tough,” she said. “There are so many good players, young players emerging, the tour is getting better and better every year. Winning out here and knowing you can compete against the best in the world definitely gives you a lot of confidence.
Lee recorded two additional wins in 2016, in Hawaii in April and again in China in October. In between, she represented her homeland at the second installment of the International Crown in Chicago. But it was her appearance at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio that Lee may remember longest. She finished tied for seventh and brought back an abundance of memories.
“Going to the Olympics was such a different and great experience,” she said. “Something like no other event and something you can’t really explain unless you’ve been there. Nonetheless, it was a great honor to represent my country and hopefully I can make it to Japan in 2020.”
Since Lee joined the play-for-pay ranks, she has maintained a remarkable record of consistency. Over the last four years she’s made 83 cuts in 93 LPGA starts or 89 percent. She’s made the cut in every one of her 11 2018 starts and has recorded six top-10 finishes.
She arrives at the Women’s Open ranked fourth on the money list, fourth in scoring average, and third in the race for Rolex Player of the Year honors.
“My game has been improving every year,” Lee said. “I’ve been working on all parts of my game. This is my 4th year on tour so every year I’ve been learning new things and going through different experiences that has helped me mature.”
That maturity helped Lee avoid the temptation to put undue pressure on herself early on because of her amateur successes.
“I haven’t felt any extra pressure because of my success as an amateur,” she said. “I just try and take each tournament as a new opportunity and do my best.
Lee is taking that same approach to the biggest event in her sport, the U.S. Women’s Open. “My mindset doesn’t really change for a major in comparison to a regular event. I just go into every tournament preparing best for the course that I have to play.”
