The finest triumph for Australia’s highest-paid sportswoman was accompanied by something unusual. For the usually private, impassive Minjee Lee – after winning her third major at the Women’s PGA Championship near her second home in Dallas, Texas – tears were a glimpse into her recent pain.
A 19-month winless run. A collapse at last year’s US Open. An adoption of the broomstick putter, a very public symbol that everything was not right. But those experiences were consigned to the past after sinking a par putt on 18 in Frisco. “It’s very different, because I feel like I had a lot of doubt the past few years,” she said. “I think this one just means a little bit more to me.”
The West Australian won by three strokes to earn $2.8m and become only the third Australian golfer to claim three different major championships, after Karrie Webb and Jan Stephenson. Even Greg Norman only found major success at a single tournament, the Open Championship, in his two victories.
Lee’s coach Ritchie Smith said it can be difficult to comprehend just how much Lee has achieved. “It’s a golden era for women’s golf, and she’s still a great,” he said. “It’s hard for me to say, because I’m her coach and I’m biased. I don’t think she’s just a great of golf, I think she’s a great of Australian sport.”
The likes of Ash Barty, Sam Kerr, Lauren Jackson, Ellyse Perry and Stephanie Gilmore have been recognised as Australia’s most successful female sportspeople in the past decade, all as standard bearers in globally competitive sports. But while Lee had risen to become the second-ranked golfer in the world by 2019, her profile – at least in Australia – was not at the same level as her peers. Outside the men’s majors, golf does not have the same cut-through or broad appeal as other codes, and when it does reach a broader Australian consciousness, it is usually thanks to the achievements of PGA stars such as Adam Scott or 2022 Open Championship winner Cameron Smith. Lee’s softly-spoken manner and reserved demeanour is also less than a natural fit with publicity.
Her profile has even been challenged by her younger brother Min Woo, now Australia’s top-ranked men’s golfer. He has emerged as a legitimate star on the men’s PGA Tour over the past two years, with a brash social media status enhanced by a stream of celebrity colabs.
But over 11 years on the LPGA tour, Minjee’s winnings still dwarf the prize money won by her brother, and are approaching US$20m. Even if the younger Lee passes that figure, he almost certainly will not end his career with anything near the list of her accomplishments. Minjee Lee is only the fifth active player to have won three majors alongside Lydia Ko, Yani Tseng, In Gee Chun and Anna Nordqvist, and only Ko is younger.
The Australian knows she should have had another too, after she led by three shots in the final round of last year’s US Open before she “blew up” – as she described afterwards – to finish ninth. Across Lee’s many years as a professional, Smith has observed how she handles defeat less with disappointment and more with embarrassment, and the US Open result was about as bad as it could get. On the sport’s highest stage, there was Lee, fully exposed.
“To capitulate the way that she did last year, it had a really negative effect on her,” Smith said. “So to reinvest into actually being in a vulnerable position like that, it takes a long time, and this is what people don’t understand. She’s risked being vulnerable in front of a whole heap of people, and I couldn’t be prouder of her to be honest, because that’s a scary proposition.”
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Lee was asked by the host in the trophy ceremony whether she now wishes she had adopted the longer putter “a little bit earlier”. She laughed and said “no”. It was an acknowledgement of the importance of her recent adversity.
Rather than just biomechanics, Smith said Lee has undergone psychological change. “She’s been so guarded and stoic for her whole career,” he said. “And now, if you have a look at her, her interview at the end of the round, there were actual emotions, she shed a tear – which is probably the first time she’s ever done that.”
Smith believes the process means Lee can now be happier in the sport. “All of her ‘being’ revolved around being a really great golfer, but when you emotionally disengage a little bit, then all of a sudden you can be the person that you want to be. And I don’t know if you notice, but she smiles a lot more now.”
Lee admits the criticism affected her. “The more I heard, like the media and other people saying things about my putting, I think it got to me more and more over time.” Yet that difficult period is now over. A major winner again, Lee said this week’s triumph – highlighted by a champagne shower on the 18th green delivered by those familiar with her struggles – was “my most deserved”.
