Minjee Lee is an Australian professional golfer from Perth, Western Australia, whose meteoric rise on the golf course has been causing quite a stir with the media. Minjee began to establish herself on the golf course after winning the Oates Victorian Open and becoming the No.1 ranked amateur golfer from February 2014 until she turned professional in September 2014.
Following her impressive amateur career, it is not surprising that her professional career has seen her bag more than a handful of the most coveted awards, including two major championships – the 2021 Amundi Evian Championship and the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open. Find out more about Minjee’s exemplary life and career here.
Minjee Lee Biography Summary
- Full Name: Minjee Lee
- Date of Birth: May 27, 1996
- Age: 26 years
- Place of Birth: Perth, Australia
- Ethnicity: Asian
- Nationality: Australian
- Zodiac Sign: Gemini
- Education: Methodist Ladies’ College and Corpus Christi College
- Profession: Professional Golfer
- Net Worth: $5 million
- Height: 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m)
- Weight: 60 kg (132 lbs)
- Minjee Lee’s boyfriend: Ranan
- Sibling: Min Woo Lee
- Instagram: minjee27
Minjee Lee is an Australian and Asian Descent
Minjee Lee was born on May 27th, 1996, in Perth, the largest and capital city of Western Australia. She holds Australian citizenship but is of Asian ethnicity, born under the Gemini birth sign.
Minjee was born to South Korean parents who emigrated to Australia in the early 1990s. Her father, Sonnam Lee, works as a spray painter, while her mother, Clara Lee, worked at a driving range. Her mother was a great source of inspiration as she was the reason why Minjee fell in love with golf, and she has followed Minjee’s development in the sport to date.
Minjee was raised alongside her younger brother, Min Woo Lee, who is a golfer and winner of the 2016 United States Junior Amateur Championship. Before Min Woo Lee’s victory in 2016, his sister had also won the same title in the 2012 U.S. Girls Junior. The sibling’s victory at the competition made history as the first brother-sister duo to win the United States Golf Association’s Junior Championships.
Minjee Began her Amateur Career at the Age of 10
Minjee Lee began playing and learning the game at the age of 10. She practiced the game for eight hours daily. Her determination and skills caught the eye of her coach, Ritchie Smith, who is still currently coaching her to greater heights.
While she was a 9-year student at Methodist Ladies’ College, Perth, Australia, she participated in the 2010 Western Australia Amateur Open and came out victorious. Her victory at the tournament made her the youngest ever Western Australia Women’s Amateur winner in 2010 whilst still at school.
Two years later, in 2012, she transferred from Methodist Ladies’ College to a private Catholic College, Corpus Christi College, to be closer to her golf course at Melville Glades. She left Corpus Christi College a year after she enrolled.
Minjee Lee won the 2012 U.S. Girls Junior Championship, a tournament for amateur U-18 Female Golfers. She bagged the 2013 Australian Women’s Amateur title and retained the title in 2014. She participated in the Oates Victorian Open, one of several tournaments held by the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour (ALPG). She won the tournament, which took place on the 20th -23rd of February, and achieved the number one ranking in amateur golf.
Lee maintained the number one ranking until she turned professional in September 2014 after leading the Australia team that won the Espirito Santo Trophy.
Amateur Career Victories
- 2010 Western Australia Women’s Amateur
- 2011 Handa Junior Masters, Western Australia Women’s Amateur, Singapore Ladies Amateur, Srixon International Junior Classic, Tasmanian Stroke Play Championship
- 2012 U.S. Girls’ Junior, Tasmanian Stroke Play Championship
- 2013 Australian Women’s Amateur, Western Australia Women’s Amateur, Rene Erichsen Salver, Australian Girls’ Amateur, Dunes Medal
- 2014 Australian Women’s Amateur
She Has Had a Succesful Professional Career
Minjee Lee began her professional career after she led a national team to the biennial amateur golf women’s championship and won the Espirito Santo Trophy in September 2014.
On 18th May 2015, the Australian golfer secured her first LPGA Tour Victory after participating in the Kingsmill Championship under Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour. She secured her second and third LPGA Tour title, the Lotte Championship, on 16th April 2016, and the Blue Bay LPGA tournament held on Hainan Island in China in October of the same year.
The golfer represented Australia in the Women’s Golf Competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, ending the game in a tie for 7th. On 4th February, Minjee emerged as the winner of the Oates Victoria Open for the second time, but this time as a professional.
She played against Lydia Ko, but she lost the LPGA Mediheal Championship title in April 2018. Weeks after, she came out stronger, winning the LPGA Volvik Championship title on her 22nd Birthday on May 27, 2018. Minjee ended the 2018 season on an impressive note as she was ranked 2nd on the money list with $1,551,032 in earnings, finishing second with an average score of 69.75 shots per round.
Likewise, she became the first woman to win the Greg Norman Medal for being the best Australian professional golfer on the world stage. On 28th April 2019, Minjee Lee outdid herself as she secured her fifth LPGA Tour victory at the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open. A month later, she rose to number two in the Women’s World Golf Rankings, but she remains underrated in her home country.
The year 2021 pushed Minjee Lee to greater heights as she won her first major championship – the Amundi Evian Championship. She competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics women’s competition and finished 29th.
The Australian golfer secured her seventh LPGA Tour title, the Cognizant Founders Cup, on 15 May 2022. Months later, she won her second major championship, the U.S. Women’s Open, on 5th June 2022. Her victory made history as she takes home the largest prize money in Women’s golf history.
As of 30th May 2022, she was the 4th-ranked female golfer in the world.
Professional Career Victoires
LPGA Tour Victories (8 wins, 2 major)
- 2015 Kingsmill Championship
- 2016 LOTTE Championship,
- 2016 Blue Bay LPGA
- 2018 LPGA Volvik Championship
- 2019 HUGEL-AIR PREMIA LA Open
- 2021 The Amundi Evian Championship
- 2022 Cognizant Founders Cup,
- 2022 U.S. Women’s Open
Ladies European and ALPG Tour Win
- 2018 Oates Victorian Open
- 2020 Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic
- 2018 Oates Victorian Open (ALPG win)
Who is Minjee Lee’s Partner?
The Australian golfer has kept her romantic relationship private, and so the exact status of her relationship is currently unknown. However, many online sources claim that she is dating a man named Ranan, but she is yet to confirm the claim. Not much is known about this mystery boyfriend other than the picture shared by Minjee on her Instagram page on 24th February, 2013. The picture was captioned “Corpus Ball…”
What is Minjee Lee’s Net Worth?
Minjee Lee is undoubtedly a talented and skilled golfer who has accumulated a net worth of around $5 million from her golfing career. She has recorded 11 professional wins in her career; eight LPGA Tour titles, two Ladies European Tour titles, and one ALPG Tour.
Her second major championship, the U.S. Women’s Open, earned her enormous prize money of about $1.8 million. Moreover, she has sponsorship deals with several brands like Hana Financial Group, Ecco, Srixon, ISPS, WAAC, and a few more.
