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]
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
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