17 May 2022 | Professional golf |
Lee sights sights on more major glory
by Dane Heverin
Only 24 hours after claiming her seventh career LPGA title, world number four Minjee Lee is spending her time looking forward rather than back.
The 25-year-old did take a moment for reflection on her victory at the Cognizant Founders Cup in New Jersey when she popped a bottle of champagne with her caddie Jason Gilroyed, but she said that she is “not much of a partier” and the celebrations remained low key because there is work to do.
The second women’s major of the year, the US Women’s Open is on the horizon - it will be played from June 2-5 at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club - and the Evian Championship winner is busy drawing up a blueprint that combines old and new skills in order to join Karrie Webb and Jan Stephenson as the only Australian women to win multiple major titles.
“I was aware that my ball striking has been really good. It always has been the strength of my game but to see the numbers was a great feeling. I didn’t know that I was doing that well. It’s a nice stat,” Lee, who leads the LPGA in average proximity to the hole from every distance between 100 and 250 yards, said.
“I’ve been working a lot on my chipping, especially out of the rough. I have some tendencies to get a little but under plane so the consistency of my chipping maybe drops off a little bit.
“My putting I’ve been working on speed. It’s really hard to match the line and the speed and if you don’t have good speed. It’s already gotten better the last couple of weeks that I’ve been working on it and last week my speed was really good. So I think I’m going to continue what I’ve been doing and maybe do more work in that aspect.”
The West Australian is also hoping for further major success within her family when younger brother Min Woo tees it up at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma for a shot at the US PGA Championship this week, but she was quick to point out the sibling pecking order.
“He did write something on Instagram that it would be a motivation for him to win, or to play well,” Lee said.
We have a sort of silent rivalry. I obviously love seeing him do well and I’m going to support him either way.
“It’s a little bit of fun for both of us. I’m two up on him at the moment so he better get a move on.”
The battle for bragging rights between the Lee siblings has the potential to play out on the same course, at the same time, for equal prize money at the Australian Open in December.
While their places in the field at Victoria and Kingston Heath are yet to be confirmed, Minjee was excited to hear the news from back home regarding the country’s national open.
“I think it’ll be a good turnout. Obviously we haven’t had a tournament like the Australian Open for a couple years and I feel like a lot of people will come out to watch,” Lee said.
“It’ll be good for Australia in general to get the community out there and have players come and play. Australia, or Melbourne in general, have been waiting for a golfing event so it’ll be a great turnout."
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