Minjee Lee (born 27 May 1996) is an Australian professional golfer. She is from Perth, Australia. Lee 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. Lee has won three major championships: the 2021 Amundi Evian Championship, the 2022 U.S. Women's Open, and the 2025 Women's PGA Championship.
Early life and amateur career In 1996, Lee was born in Perth, Australia. In 2010, Lee became the youngest winner of the WA Amateur Open while still a year 9 student at Methodist Ladies' College, Perth. 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.
Lee was the winner of the 2012 U.S. Girls' Junior. She won the Australian Women's Amateur in 2013 and successfully defended the title in 2014.
Lee became the number one ranked amateur golfer on 26 February 2014 after winning the Oates Victorian Open on the ALPG Tour. She remained the number one ranked amateur golfer until September 2014 after leading the Australia team that won the Espirito Santo Trophy.
Professional career In September 2014, Lee turned professional. On 18 May 2015, Lee gained her first LPGA Tour victory at the Kingsmill Championship. In 2016, she won the Lotte Championship in April, and the Blue Bay LPGA in October. She recorded her first ever hole-in-one at the 2016 Kia Classic by making an albatross on a par four. It was just the second time a player had made a hole-in-one on a par four on the LPGA Tour. 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.
In April 2018, she lost the LPGA Mediheal Championship in a playoff to Lydia Ko. In May, she won the LPGA Volvik Championship. 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. She also became the first woman to win the Greg Norman Medal for being the best Australian professional golfer on the world stage. In April 2019, Lee won the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open, her fifth LPGA Tour victory. 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".
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. In 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.
In 2022, Lee had a sterling season. She won her seventh LPGA Tour event, the Cognizant Founders Cup, in May, defeating Lexi Thompson by two strokes, 269 (19-under-par) to Thompson's 271. 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. 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. In November, she won the season-long Aon Risk Reward Challenge and $1,000,000 for the 2022 LPGA Tour season. 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.
In June 2025, Lee secured her third victory in a major after claiming the title at the Women's PGA Championship. The following month, she recorded a third-placed finish at the Evian Championship, one stroke behind a two-way playoff for the title. In August, Lee became the first person to win the Rolex Annika Major Award on two occasions. In October, Lee helped Australia win the International Crown for the first time. On 5 May 2026, Minjee Lee committed to joining the WTGL.
Personal life Lee's parents, Soonam and Clara Lee, are both from South Korea, and emigrated to Australia in the early 1990s. Lee's younger brother, Min Woo, won the 2016 U.S. Junior Amateur, making them the first brother/sister pair to win the USGA's junior championships.
Awards and honors In 2018, 2021, and 2023 she earned the Greg Norman Medal, bestowed to the top Australian international golfer. In 2018, she became the first female to earn the award. In 2022 and 2025, Lee earned the Rolex Annika Major Award, dispensed to the golfer who was the most successful in the female majors. In 2025, Lee was named the recipient of the Western Australian Sports Star of the Year.
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 (14) LPGA Tour wins (11) Legend Major championships (3) Other LPGA Tour (8) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up118 May 2015Kingsmill Championship68-67-69-65=269 −152 strokes Ryu So-yeon216 Apr 2016Lotte Championship68-66-74-64=272 −161 stroke Katie Burnett Chun In-gee323 Oct 2016Blue Bay LPGA65-67-73-70=275 −131 stroke Jessica Korda427 May 2018LPGA Volvik Championship67-69-68-68=272 −161 stroke In-Kyung Kim528 Apr 2019Hugel-Air Premia LA Open66-69-67-68=270 −144 strokes Kim Sei-young625 Jul 2021 Amundi Evian Championship68-69-65-64=266 −18Playoff Lee Jeong-eun715 May 2022Cognizant Founders Cup67-63-69-70=269 −192 strokes Lexi Thompson85 June 2022U.S. Women's Open67-66-67-71=271−134 strokes Mina Harigae910 Sep 2023Kroger Queen City Championship67-69-65-71=272 −16Playoff Charley Hull1022 Oct 2023BMW Ladies Championship64-69-71-68=272 −16Playoff Alison Lee1122 Jun 2025KPMG Women's PGA Championship69-72-69-74=284 −43 strokes Auston Kim Chanettee Wannasaen Co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour.
LPGA Tour playoff record (3–3) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12018LPGA Mediheal Championship Lydia KoLost to eagle on first extra hole22019Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA Nelly Korda Caroline MassonKorda won with birdie on first extra hole32021Amundi Evian Championship Lee Jeong-eunWon with birdie on first extra hole42023Cognizant Founders Cup Ko Jin-youngLost to par on first extra hole52023Kroger Queen City Championship Charley HullWon with birdie on second extra hole62023BMW Ladies Championship Alison LeeWon with birdie on first extra hole
Ladies European Tour wins (3) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMarginof victoryRunner(s)-up14 Feb 2018Oates Vic Open70-67-75-67=279−135 strokes Karis Davidson26 Nov 2020Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic72-65-69=206−10Playoff Céline Boutier325 Jul 2021 Amundi Evian Championship68-69-65-64=266 −18Playoff Lee Jeong-eun Co-sanctioned by the ALPG Tour. Co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour.
LET playoff record (2–0) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12020Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic Céline BoutierWon with birdie on first extra hole22021Amundi Evian Championship Lee Jeong-eunWon with birdie on first extra hole
ALPG Tour wins (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMarginof victoryRunner(s)-up123 Feb 2014Oates Vic Open73-70-68-68=279−166 strokes Vikki Laing24 Feb 2018Oates Vic Open70-67-75-67=279−135 strokes Karis Davidson
Lee won the 2014 Oates Vic Open as an amateur. Co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour.
Major championships Wins (3) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner(s)-up2021 The Evian Championship 7 shot deficit –18 (68-69-65-64=266) Playoff Lee Jeong-eun2022 U.S. Women's Open 3 shot lead –13 (67-66-67-71=271) 4 strokes Mina Harigae2025 Women's PGA Championship 4 shot lead –4 (69-72-69-74=284) 3 strokes Auston Kim Chanettee Wannasaen
Results timeline Results not in chronological order. Tournament 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026Chevron ChampionshipT24LACUTT26T3T25T21T7T2512T41CUTT14T49U.S. Women's OpenT22CUTT46T11T34T12T46T541T13T9T22T28Women's PGA ChampionshipT13T12T36T25T30T58T40T2T20T241CUTThe Evian ChampionshipT16T11T67T32T16CUTNT1T43T16T49T3CUTWomen's British Open CUTT9T25CUT10T113T5T4T50CUTT13CUT
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 madeChevron Championship 0 0 1 1 2 7 12 10U.S. Women's Open 1 0 0 1 2 7 13 12Women's PGA Championship 1 1 0 2 2 7 12 11The Evian Championship 1 0 1 2 2 6 12 10Women's British Open 0 0 1 3 5 8 13 9Totals 3 1 3 9 13 35 62 52 Most consecutive cuts made – 20 (2019 British – 2023 British) Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (four times)
LPGA Tour career summary Year Tournaments played Cuts made Wins 2nd 3rd Top 10s Best finish Earnings($) Money list rank Scoring average Scoringrank2013110000T55n/an/a72.25n/a2014650000T11n/an/a71.77n/a2015292410071821,1211670.891520162726210811,213,9021270.42132017262201310T21,027,9411670.1815201827251321311,551,032269.75220192624142911,522,607869.9192020161600253724,273870.711120211816110711,542,332470.322220222018221613,809,960269.69720231818210511,650,9751270.4221202421160004T4881,9464371.2249202522 21 1 2 2 8 1 3,910,471269.64320267 5 1 2 T3 391,8904671.1729Totals^256 (2015) 230 (2015) 12 15 13 81 1 19,048,450 6 ^ Official as of 21 June 2026
World ranking Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.
Year Worldranking Source 2015 18 2016 17 2017 19 2018 6 2019 9 2020 8 2021 7 2022 4 2023 4 2024 18 2025 3 2026 11^ ^ As of 29 June 2026
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, 2025 (winners)
See also List of golfers with most LPGA major championship wins List of golfers with most LPGA Tour wins
References
External links