The putter switch instigated by Minjee Lee’s back-nine collapse 12 months ago gets its ultimate shot at redemption at this week’s US Women’s Open at Erin Hills.

A major winner at Evian in 2021 and at Pine Needles in 2022, Lee was at the top of the leaderboard with nine holes to play at last year’s US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club when her putter began to fail her.

For one of golf’s premier ball-strikers, putting was her occasional Achilles heel, any frailties cruelly exposed in a final nine holes where Lee shot 6-over 41 to fall into a tie for ninth.

A two-footer at the par-4 10th that didn’t touch the hole was the catalyst for change but it wasn’t until the end of the 2024 season that she and coach Ritchie Smith discussed experimenting with a broomstick putter to help clean up misses from four feet and in.

“We needed time to actually apply a bit of training to it and actually educate ourselves on it because a broomstick’s a different beast, and we’d never even considered using it,” admitted Smith.

Rather than seeking her own counsel, Lee trusted Smith to find the way it would work best.

Smith identified more stability in the face almost instantly, Lee trialling different grips with her right hand before settling on a “pistol grip”.

“He may have spoken to a couple of people about the fundamentals and the basics of how to putt with a broomstick but for me, personally, I didn’t really speak to anyone,” Lee told Golf Channel on ‘Live From The US Women’s Open’.

“You have to be open-minded to try this. The first few events were a bit of a trial for me.

“It got easier and easier as I was playing in tournaments and got a little more confidence in it.

“I don’t think I took to it straight away but it’s getting easier and easier to get the speed on more the long putts.

“The shorter putts are definitely easier.”

The numbers in 2025 back that up.

Dating back to 2021, Lee had never been higher than 127th on the LPGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting.

This year Lee, who celebrated her 29th birthday on Wednesday, is tied ninth and is 21st in putts per green in regulation, a welcome addition to the arsenal of a player also 12th in Strokes Gained: Off The Tee.

Mentally fresh after a two-week break in which she and Smith spent time fine-tuning her swing, Lee is once again invigorated by what the USGA are going to put forth this week at Erin Hills.

“Because of the coverage, I saw so much of it on TV so it became the one I’ve always wanted to win,” said Lee.

“That win in ’22 is very special to me.

“You want it to be challenging enough, but kind of fun for the viewership to be able to follow along where you make your birdies.

“Reachable par-4s or short par-3s but that have a lot of bunkers, like the ninth hole this week.

“For us, it’s more fun and more challenging to play courses like that than more of a real grind of a golf course.

“That’s really what makes a championship a championship.”

The 80th US Women’s Open is broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo all four days. Coverage of the first two rounds is 2am-10am Friday and Saturday with coverage to begin at 3am Sunday and 4am Monday.

Round 1 tee times AEST

US Women’s Open Erin Hills, Erin, Wisconson 10:18pm Stephanie Kyriacou 10:18pm* Hannah Green 10:40pm* Lydia Ko (NZ) 3:41am Gabriela Ruffels 4:36am Minjee Lee 4:58am* Grace Kim 5:31am Jennifer Elliott

Past champion: Yuka Saso Past Aussie winners: Jan Stephenson (1983), Karrie Webb (2000, 2001), Minjee Lee (2022) Prize money: $US12m TV times: Live 2am-10am Friday, Saturday; Live 3am-8am Sunday; Live 4am-9am Monday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.

PGA TOUR the Memorial Tournament Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio 11:15pm Cam Davis 1:10am Ryan Fox (NZ) 1:30am Min Woo Lee 3:10am Adam Scott

Past champion: Scottie Scheffler Past Aussie winners: David Graham (1980); Greg Norman (1990, 1995) Prize money: $US20m TV times: Live 9:45pm-8am Thursday, Friday; Live 12am-9:30am Sunday on Fox Sports 503; Live 12am-3am Monday on Fox Sports 507; Live 3:30am-8:30am Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.

DP World Tour Austrian Alpine Open Gut Altentann GC, Salzburg, Austria 4pm* Daniel Hillier (NZ) 4:40pm* Kazuma Kobori (NZ) 5:05pm Jason Scrivener 8:20pm* Danny List 9:20pm* David Micheluzzi 10:15pm Elvis Smylie, Daniel Gale

Past champion: John Catlin Past Aussie winners: Richard Green (2007) Prize money: $US2.75m TV times: Live 8:30pm-1:30am Thursday, Friday; Live 9pm-1:30am Saturday; Live 8:30pm-1:30am Sunday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.

PGA TOUR Champions Principal Charity Classic Wakonda Club, Des Moines, Iowa Aussies in the field: Steve Allan, David Bransdon, Greg Chalmers, Richard Green, Mark Hensby, Brendan Jones, Cameron Percy, John Senden, Michael Wright.

Past champion: Ernie Els Past Aussie winners: Nil Prize money: $US2m TV times: 12:30pm-2pm Saturday; 1pm-2:30pm Sunday on Fox Sports 503; Live 5am-8am Monday on Fox Sports 507 and Kayo.

Korn Ferry Tour UNC Health Championship Raleigh Country Club, Raleigh, North Carolina 8:45pm* Harrison Endycott 10:30pm* Harry Hillier (NZ) 2:45am Rhein Gibson

Past champion: Kaito Onishi Past Aussie winners: Mark Hensby (2000) Prize money: $US1m

Japan Golf Tour Road to the British Open Mizuno Open JFE Setonaikai Golf Club, Okayama 12:55pm Michael Hendry (NZ) 1:25pm* Brad Kennedy

Past champion: Ryosuke Kinoshita Past Aussie winners: Brian Jones (1990), Roger Mackay (1991), Brendan Jones (2004, 2013), Chris Campbell (2005), Brad Kennedy (2012) Prize money: ¥100m

LET Access Series Santander Golf Tour – AVILA Naturavila Golf, Spain 4:50pm* Belinda Ji 5pm* Justice Bosio 5:15pm* Kristalle Blum 5:25pm* Abbie Teasdale 10pm* Stephanie Bunque

Past champion: Helen Briem Past Aussie winners: Nil Prize money: €45,000

HotelPlanner Tour Challenge de Cadiz Iberostar Real Golf Novo Sancti Petri, Cadiz, Spain 4:20pm Hayden Hopewell 9pm Sam Jones (NZ)

Past champion: Jonathan Goth-Rasmussen Past Aussie winners: Nil Prize money: €300,000

Sunshine Tour Gary and Vivienne Player Challenge Benoni Country Club, Gauteng, South Africa 4:10pm Austin Bautista

Past champion: Daniel van Tonder Past Aussie winners: Nil Prize money: R2m