Aussie superstar Minjee Lee has her sights set on golf’s summit after winning her seventh LPGA Tour event at the weekend.
Three late birdies delivered the Perth product the Cognizant Founders Cup at Upper Montclair Country Club in New Jersey, moving her from No.5 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings [below] to No.4.
With a packed schedule ahead that ticks off four events in five weeks – including the US Women’s Open at Pine Needles from June 2-5 – Lee said she was hoping to take full advantage of the big ranking points on offer.
“It’s (No.1 ranking) obviously in the back of my mind,” Lee told Australian reporters this morning.
“There’s quite a big difference in points between me and No.1 (Korea’s Jin Young Ko), so I still need to do quite a bit of work to get there, but there are a couple of big events coming up and the Majors will definitely be a big focus for me.”
So sharp is that focus, celebrations after her latest victory were contained to the golf course with just Lee, her caddie and a bottle of bubbly.
“I just hung out at the golf course and drank some champagne with my caddie, had some food, it was nice and down to earth. I’m not a crazy partier,” Lee laughed, referring to the absence of her younger brother Min Woo, who’s in Tulsa this week preparing for his PGA Championship debut.
That same calm demeanour didn’t change much throughout the final round on Sunday. From good shots to lipped-out putts, Lee never gave much away. That is, until the final putt. She finished with a birdie on the 18th to win by two, pumping her fist and beaming at her 19-under 269 performance, and her first win since claiming the Evian Championship last July.
“After I holed that last putt, I was really happy, obviously, and I have been playing really well,” Lee said.
“So, I’m just proud of myself just that I played four days of really good golf and I was able to fight through this round and come out with a win.”
After mapping out her schedule at the beginning of the year, Lee said she had no plans of taking a well-earned rest after her latest triumph.
“I’m going to play the next two events (LPGA Match-Play and US Women’s Open) and then have one week off before playing the following two events (Meijer LPGA Classic and Women’s PGA Championship). The breaks in this year’s schedule work really well so hopefully I can keep the run going.”
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