Minjee Lee claimed her 10th LPGA Tour title at the BMW Ladies Championship while Richard Green almost made it back-to-back wins for Aussies on the Champions Tour, going down in a playoff at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Virginia.
Minjee Lee took another step towards her ultimate goal of world No.1 and created a unique slice of history by winning the BMW Ladies Championship in Korea.
Lee narrowly missed an opportunity to chip-in for the win on the 72nd hole at Seowon Valley Country Club but needed just one extra hole to edge American Alison Lee and claim the 10th LPGA Tour title of her career.
The 27-year-old very nearly holed her approach shot in the playoff, calmly rolling home her three-foot birdie putt for the win after Lee had missed her birdie try from 10 feet.
Her second LPGA Tour win in her past four starts, Lee’s win came a week after younger brother Min Woo Lee shot 30-under par in winning the Macao Open on the Asian Tour.
It is the first time in golf’s history that a brother and sister have won on major international tours in successive weeks, Minjee conceding that she drew inspiration from the manner of Min Woo’s win in Macau.
“Obviously it was great to see Min Woo win,” said Minjee.
“I follow him every single event. I mean, I’d never say it to his face but he plays really well and I’m always really proud of him.
“Sure, it was a little motivation.
“I feel like I’ve been working up to this one and really building on this win.”
The win held particular significance for Lee as she became just the third Australian behind Karrie Webb and Jan Stephenson to win 10 times on the LPGA Tour and she did so in the homeland of her parents.
Lee’s grandmother was in the gallery on Sunday and had some simple words of encouragement for her two-time major-winning granddaughter.
“She gave me a cuddle and just said, ‘You did so well’,” said Lee.
“That’s about it, because everything was a bit hectic.
“Out of all the places, Korea was always at the top of my list because my parents are Korean and I have a heritage to Korea.
“This one is special, especially having all of my family and extended family and friends coming out to cheer for me today.
“It was really cool to see them on the sidelines when I was walking down.”
As Minjee was winning in Korea, Min Woo all but locked up a PGA TOUR card for 2024 with a top-10 finish at the ZOZO Championship in Japan.
Kick-started by holing his approach shot for eagle at the par-4 first, Min Woo shot 65 in the final round to earn a tie for sixth as he seeks to turn Special Temporary Membership into a full card next season.
“The result’s actually really good,” said Min Woo, who admitted to not having his best stuff all week.
“A lot of pressure getting my card and trying to play well but I feel like there’s some in the tank still and hopefully I can end the year really well.”
Richard Green almost made it back-to-back wins for Aussies on the Champions Tour, going down to Harrison Frazar in a playoff at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Virginia.
Green was the first to post 11-under but then had to watch on as Frazar birdied his final hole to match him.
The pair returned to the par-5 18th where Frazar’s birdie edged the Aussie left-hander.
Results
PGA TOUR
ZOZO Championship
Accordia Golf Narashino CC, Chiba, Japan
1 Collin Morikawa 64-73-66-63—266 $US1.53m
T6 Min Woo Lee 69-73-67-65—274 $275,188
T12 Cam Davis 67-70-69-70—276 $178,500
T21 Aaron Baddeley 68-74-70-68—280 $73,610
T41 Adam Scott 70-73-71-69—283 $27,710
LPGA Tour
BMW Ladies Championship
Seowon Hills at Seowon Valley Country Club
Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
1 Minjee Lee 64-69-71-68—272 $US330,000
Won on the first hole of sudden death playoff
3 Lydia Ko 67-69-69-69—274 $147,030
T22 Hannah Green 69-70-69-72—280 $22,471
T34 Grace Kim 72-72-69-70—283 $13,665
T41 Stephanie Kyriacou 68-73-73-70—284 $10,256
T59 Sarah Kemp 69-76-71-72—288 $5,992
DP World Tour
Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters
Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, San Roque, Andalucia, Spain
1 Adrian Meronk 72-68-66-66—272 €602,907.98
T19 Daniel Hillier (NZ) 70-66-75-69—280 €40,227.64
T52 Ryan Fox (NZ) 71-71-71-73—286 €12,856.13
T59 Jason Scrivener 69-68-72-79—288 €10,107.57
Ladies European Tour
Hero Women’s Indian Open
DLF Golf and Country Club, Gurgaon, India
1 Aline Krauter 69-68-68-68—273 €56,812.35
T31 Momoka Kobori (NZ) 74-72-73-74—293 €3,582.97
MC Hanee Song (NZ) 76-76—152
MC Stephanie Bunque 77-77—154
PGA TOUR Champions
Dominion Energy Charity Classic
The Country Club Of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
1 Harrison Frazar 65-71-69—205
Won on the first hole of sudden death playoff
2 Richard Green 67-69-69—205
T13 David McKenzie 72-70-69—211
T25 Steven Alker (NZ) 71-71-73—215
T35 Stuart Appleby 75-70-71—216
T35 Rod Pampling 73-69-74—216
T53 Mark Hensby 78-70-72—220
LET Access Series
Calatayud Ladies Open
Gambito Golf Calatayud, Spain
1 Hannah Screen 69-69-73—211€6,400
T6 Kelsey Bennett 70-74-72—216€1,200
MC Amy Walsh 75-76—151
MC Kristalle Blum 81-75—156
MC Victoria Fricot 86-74—160
REPORT: TONY WEBECK | GOLF AUSTRALIA/PGA OF AUSTRALIA