'Dream come true': why Minjee Lee craves another major
Birthday girl Minjee Lee is pinning her faith in a "pistol-grip" putter and trusty caddy as she shoots for redemption and the biggest pay day in women's golf.
Lee and world No.8 Hannah Green will spearhead a seven-strong Australian challenge at the 80th Women's US Open starting on Thursday at famed and formidable Erin Hills near Milwaukee. The winner will pocket a cheque for US$2.4 million from the overall $US12 million purse but money can't buy the feeling of getting her hands on the trophy like Lee did three years ago.
"I've seen so many US Opens on TV and all the highlights, so that it became the one that I've always wanted to win and it was just a dream come true, 2022. That win was very special to me," Lee said ahead of the season's second major championship.
The one-time world No.2, who has slipped to 22nd in the rankings after enduring the longest winning drought of her pro career, last year relinquished a three-shot final-round lead in pursuit of a second US Open crown.
Revered as the world's premier iron player, Lee has switched to a broomstick putter in a bid to solve her ongoing putting woes.
While the 29-year-old is yet to snap a 20-month winless run, the move to a long wand has already been telling.
After finishing tied for 127th, 154th, equal 141st and 157th on the LPGA Tour for strokes gained in putting for the past four years, Lee is joint-ninth on the greens in 2025.
The transition has not been straightforward but Lee says she's back "in a good space" with her game after coming to grips, literally, with the putter change.
"I was just trying to get the grip comfortable with my right hand, so I tried a couple different ones," Lee revealed on Wednesday before heading off with Green for birthday celebrations.
"And I just ended up being comfortable with the one I'm using right now, which is just like a pistol grip.
"So, yeah, I was just trying to experiment on what I felt most comfortable in and most confident in."
The renewed comfort has yielded second, fourth and seventh-place finishes among six top-15 finishes from eight starts in a super consistent, no-missed-cuts start to the season.
With her full game back in order, Lee will back her new, esteemed bagman Mikey Paterson, a former caddy for legend Karrie Webb, to help complete the puzzle this week and claim a third career major.
"He plays a huge part in my preparation and also my course management and that's the biggest thing at the US Open," Lee said.
"You have a lot of blind tee shots or the wind might swirl or be quite aggressive at times, so I really trust that he's done all his work on the course.
"I'll really lean on him to tell me where the start lines are and even on the greens, some of the undulations and where I need to hit it to be in a good spot to make par or birdies.
"You've got to be in the right spots and sometimes it's not where you make your pars or your birdies, it's where you make your bogeys so you're not having doubles or especially those larger scores.
"US Women's Opens are renowned for arguably being the hardest championship out there to win. The course set-ups are renowned for being difficult and designed to challenge you.
"So it will come into play a lot this week to have a great partnership with your caddy."
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Jones is attempting to become the first Australian since West Australian Lesley Hunt, 57 years ago, to win a girls' singles tournament at Roland Garros. Her victims this week have included Capucine Jauffret, of the US, and Czechia's Vendula Valdmannova, a Wimbledon semi-finalist last year. She needed three sets to progress from those matches but delivered a straight-sets victory over Spain's Charo Esquiva Banuls on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals. The Gold Coast local is also chasing a return to the junior world No.1 ranking at Roland Garros having recently been replaced at the top by Japan's Australian Open 2025 girls' singles champion, Wakana Sonobe. Victory today could pave the way to a final showdown with her doubles partner, Hannah Klugman. The British starlet beat Sarah Melany Fajmonova in three sets and now faces Bulgaria's Rositsa Dencheva.
