Minjee Lee is one step closer to fulfilling her Hall of Fame ambition thanks to what could be a career-defining decision that she didn’t want to make.

Lee overcame a shaky front nine to claim the third major championship of her career at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, a win that puts her within reach of the career grand slam.

While the LPGA now conducts five majors each year, a player needs to win just four to be considered a grand slam winner, Lee’s Women’s PGA title adding to her Amundi Evian Championship win in 2021 and US Women’s Open victory in 2022.

She could claim the grand slam with victory at the AIG Women’s Open in August, the Chevron Championship the other missing major on her resume.

Australian legend Karrie Webb is the only player in LPGA history to have won all five majors – dubbed the ‘super slam’ – yet, at 29 years of age and with new-found confidence on the greens, Lee’s childhood dream could become a reality.

“That is my ultimate goal,” said Lee when asked her grand slam aspirations.

“I really wanted to be in the Hall of Fame. That’s why I started golf. That’s why I wanted to be on the LPGA Tour, to win a bunch of tournaments and try to get into it.

“Seeing Lydia (Ko) do it, I think I would really like to get there. We’ll see how we go after this week.”

When Lee claimed the first of now 11 LPGA Tour career wins to date a week before her 19th birthday in 2015, Hall of Fame status appeared a fait accompli.

But as the years of her career passed without major validation, pressure continued to build.

It took an unlikely charge from seven strokes back to break through in a playoff at Evian four years ago and then Lee put the golf world on notice with a commanding victory at the 2022 US Women’s Open.

But a back nine collapse at the US Women’s Open 12 months ago exposed a flaw that Lee admitted became worse the more people talked about it.

Ultimately, it led long-time coach Ritchie Smith to raise the prospect of switching to a broomstick putter.

“Do I have to?” was Lee’s immediate reaction, yet with some gentle cajoling began to practice with it.

Her first public display of putting with the broomstick came at the pro-am ahead of the Webex Players Series Perth she hosted with brother Min Woo Lee in January, feeling confident enough to start the LPGA season with it in the bag.

“(Ritchie) would say a lot, but when I did switch, I think he mentioned it to me like twice,” Lee said when asked how hard she was to persuade.

“I was like mucking around with it. I would say it was a good change. He didn’t have to tell me too many times after the first two.”

Last year on the LPGA Tour Lee ranked 135th in average putts per round. This year she is 35th and ranked first in Strokes Gained: Putting at PGA Frisco to complete what may be the most fulfilling win of her career.

“I feel like I had a lot of doubt the past few years I guess with my long game but more with my putting,” she conceded.”

“I think the more I heard media and other people saying things about my putting, I think it got to me more and more over time.

“This one just means a little bit more to me.

“Obviously US Open is my absolute favourite, but in terms of my most deserved, I think this one is the one.”