Golf: World No. 3 Minjee Lee eyes top ranking after going close last season

SINGAPORE – Australian golf star and world No. 3 Minjee Lee will always remember 2022.

It is not because she captured her second Major at the US Women’s Open and in doing so, earned US$1.8 million (S$2.4 million) in prize money, one of the largest hauls in women’s golf history.

Instead, last season was unforgettable for the 26-year-old because she had fallen tantalisingly short of becoming Australia’s first female golfer to capture the world No. 1 spot.

Lee, who will be in Singapore for the March 2-5 HSBC Women’s World Championship, told The Straits Times on Friday: “Being world No. 1 means you are recognised as being the best golfer in the world.

“We always work towards being the best and the best of our potential, which hopefully is to be world No. 1 .

“It means so much to me. It has always been something I dream about since I was younger. It will be a great reward for all the work I have done and the time I have put into mastering the art of golf, if I am able to reach that ranking.”

No Australian golfer has been No. 1 since the Women’s World Golf Rankings debuted in 2006 and Lee had the opportunity to do so going into last August’s Women’s British Open.

She was ranked No. 2 then and could have gone top with victory or a second-placed finish in Scotland. But she finished only tied-fourth.

She had similar opportunities at June’s Women’s PGA Championship in Maryland and during the title defence of her first Major crown – the Evian Championship – in France in July. But she finished joint-second and tied-43rd respectively.

Nevertheless, Lee still closed out the year with the Annika Major Award, given to the season’s best-performing player at the five Majors.

She said: “The world ranking is always in the back of my mind but with good play, that will follow.

“I don’t think about it too much when I play in tournaments.

“I would love to be top of the ranking but it is not something that you can really control.

“My mantra is to give 100 per cent, never give up and believe that you can do it. And hopefully with that, I get there (world No. 1).“

She will be taking her first step towards the summit when her new season starts at the LPGA Thailand tournament in Chonburi from Feb 23-26, a week before the HSBC Women’s World Championship at Sentosa Golf Club.

The Sentosa event will feature 18 of the world’s top 20 women’s golfers, including all the other players in the top five – world No. 1 Lydia Ko, Nelly Korda, Atthaya Thitikul and defending champion Ko Jin-young.

Lee was tied with South Korea’s Chun In-gee for second place at the 2022 edition and will be eyeing the big prize this time around.

While Lee is focused on scaling the rankings, she also had time to chime in on the debate about equal pay between the sexes in sport.

In tennis, all four Grand Slams have paid male and female players the same prize money since 2007, but a gap remains in most sports.

In September 2022, representatives for the United States’ men and women’s national football teams signed an agreement that formally settled a long and acrimonious fight over equal pay.

Lee’s US$1.8-million prize cheque was the richest in women’s golf history when she won the US Women’s Open.

The record was broken when Ko pocketed US$2 million after winning the season-ending LPGA Tour Championship.

The record for a standalone event in the men’s PGA Tour was US$3.6 million – pocketed by Cameron Smith for winning the Players Championship in March 2022.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series gave out US$4 million to each of its seven individual winners last season.

Lee said: “There are always going to be people who disagree or agree when it comes to equal pay.

“It would be nice to be paid an equal amount as men but in the LPGA and the various women’s tournaments, the pay is getting better and better each year.

“We have not had this type of purses before in LPGA.

“We are going in the right direction and as long as we are working towards closing the gap, that is the best we can do.”