[Evian] Minji Lee "First Major Queen in Life"... Jeongeun Lee6 'Runner-up in Playoff' (Summary)

4th Major Evian Championship Playoff First Hole 'Winning Birdie' Secures 6th Career Win for Lee Jeong-eun 6, Park In-bi's Second Shot 'Hazard Tears', Tied 12th

Im Ji-min is posing with the trophy wrapped in the Australian flag immediately after winning the Amundi Evian Championship. Evian-les-Bains, France = Getty Images / MultiVitz

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] Minjee Lee (Australia) has become a ‘Major Queen’ for the first time in her career.

On the 26th (Korean time), at the Evian Golf Club (par 71, 6,527 yards) in Evian-les-Bains, France, the final day of the fourth major of the LPGA Tour, the Amundi Evian Championship (total prize money $4.5 million), Lee shot 7 under par to tie with Jeongeun Lee6 (25, Daebang Construction) at 18 under par 266. Then, on the first hole of the playoff at the 18th hole (par 5), she made a winning birdie. This was her sixth career victory, her first since the LA Open in April 2019, and the winner’s prize money was $675,000 (7.8 billion KRW).

Starting from a tie for 4th place, 7 strokes behind, Minjee Lee collected seven birdies. She chased the leader with birdies on the 1st hole (par 4), and ‘stepping stone birdies’ on the 7th and 9th holes, then dominated the leaderboard with three consecutive birdies from the 14th to 16th holes and a birdie on the final 18th hole. On the first playoff hole, she hit her second shot with a 6-iron and dropped it 3 meters from the hole, easily making the birdie. She cheered, saying, "I just tried to make birdies," and "The result came from focusing on playing my best."

Minjee Lee is a 7-year LPGA Tour player who debuted in 2015 after representing Australia’s national team. Born in 1996 when her parents settled in Perth, Australia, she first picked up a golf club at age 10 after swimming. She showed outstanding talent, being selected as the representative of Western Australia at age 12. She played as an Australian national team member for four years, reaching No. 1 in the amateur golf world rankings, and made her professional debut at the Evian Championship in September 2014.

In her first year on the LPGA Tour, she finished in the top 10 six times, including her first professional win at the Kingsmill Championship. In 2016, she had her best season, winning the Lotte Championship and the Blue Bay LPGA. She is well known as the sibling golfer of Minwoo Lee (Australia), who won the European Tour Rolex Series Scottish Open on the 12th of this month. This year, Minjee Lee has played in 11 tournaments, finishing in the top 5 three times, and finally wiped away the frustration of never having won a major at Evian.

Jeongeun Lee6 started the final round with a 5-stroke lead but exchanged five birdies for five bogeys, failing to reduce her score. After struggling with 4 over par in 11 holes, she made a birdie on the 12th hole and then three consecutive birdies from the 16th to 18th holes to push the match into a playoff. However, she collapsed after dropping her second shot into the water. She eventually made a bogey with a ‘4 on 2 putt’. Her dream of a second career win, her first since the 2019 US Women’s Open major, also disappeared.

Ye-rim Noh (USA) performed well, shooting 4 under par to finish 3rd at 17 under par 267. For Korea, In-ji Jeon (27, KB Financial Group) finished tied for 6th at 13 under par 271. Park In-bee (33, KB Financial Group), who was challenging for a ‘career super slam,’ finished tied for 12th at 10 under par 274. Olympic team member Hyo-joo Kim (26, Lotte) tied for 17th at 8 under par 276, Se-young Kim (28, Mediheal) tied for 38th at 3 under par 281, and Jin-young Ko (26) tied for 60th at 2 over par 286.