logo
Minjee Lee takes out the Women's PGA Championship and collects $2.8 million

Minjee Lee takes out the Women's PGA Championship and collects $2.8 million

News.com.au22-06-2025
Minjee Lee is a major champion for a third time after taking out the Women's PGA in Texas and collecting the equal biggest payday in history to reassert herself as a force and move into rarefied air in Australian sport.
Starting the final round at Fields Ranch East just outside Dallas, where the Australian star has made her US base, Lee toughed out the scorching and windy conditions, riding out some significant early bumps on a rollercoaster final day.
As temperatures hit 35C, Lee led by as many as five shots, and as few as two after three front nine bogeys, before a steely performance across her final six holes secured an emphatic three-shot win, despite a two-over par closing round of 74, to finish on four-under and collect the $2.8m winner's cheque.
Such was the brutal nature of the four days in Texas, Lee was one of only three players in the entire field to finish under par.
Lee, 29, became just the fourth Australian golfer to win three or more majors, joining Karrie Webb (seven), Peter Thomson (5) and Jan Stephenson (3) in an elite category. She added the PGA to the US Open she won in 2022, and the Evian Championship in 2021 and now has three legs of the women's major grand slam among 13 worldwide wins in an elite career.
Webb was on hand in Texas to see Lee's win and the new PGA champion said her Aussie mentor was 'always supporting me regardless of where I am in the world'.
Pretty insane that Min Woo Lee is the second best golfer in his family.
His sister Minjee has a FIVE shot lead at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. pic.twitter.com/HB2tmwBoPN
— Fore Play (@ForePlayPod) June 22, 2025
The win also ended a 19-month winless drought for the former world No.2, the longest of her decorated career, a run which moved her to make significant changes going in to 2025.
Lee changed her club supplier and also moved to a broomstick putter to address the issues which also cost her victory in last year's US Open, the win in Texas helping bury those Demons having lost a three-shot lead in the final round.
But it wasn't without drama.
Lee surrendered the monster lead she had at Fields Ranch, this time on the front nine, with three bogeys in her opening six holes.
This time the chasers didn't come as hard though, and Lee, who came from three shots behind herself in the third round to take control, navigated her shaky star to recover with a birdie on her ninth hole.
With the wind whipping the flat, treeless, baked layout, Lee was managing her mental state as much as he game.
She was still in control of the leaderboard, and despite another bogey to start the back nine, with her lead reduced to two shots, she got that shot back with a birdie on 14 and another on 15 to lead by four shots, giving her herself a significant cushion going in to the final stretch of tough holes.
A nervous bogey on the 16th after missing the fairway dropped her lead to three shots with two to play, but both her nearest challengers were already in the clubhouse.
But having vowed to use the experience she gained in her two previous major wins, Lee stuck her tee shot on the par 3 17th to the middle of the green, walked off with par and down the tough 18th hole with a three shot lead.
Lee laced her drive down the final hole, nailed her seven-iron approach before two putts delivered one last par and another trophy.
The win will also send Lee back up the rankings, having slipped outside the world's top 20 for the first time since 2015 amid her winless run.
FINAL LEADERBOARD
4-under Minjee Lee
1- under Auston Kim, Chanettee Wannasaen
7 - Karrie Webb
5 - Peter Thomson
3 - Minjee Lee, Jan Stephenson
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

‘This isn't a novelty or aberration': Female jockeys set up for success in Queensland
‘This isn't a novelty or aberration': Female jockeys set up for success in Queensland

News.com.au

time2 minutes ago

  • News.com.au

‘This isn't a novelty or aberration': Female jockeys set up for success in Queensland

Don't think it's just a one-off. A female jockey will soon create history by winning the Brisbane riding premiership for the first time, but expectations are that it could soon be the rule rather than the exception. As great mates Angela Jones and apprentice Emily Jones have been battling it out for the title, Brisbane Racing Club chairman Richard Morrison has been making plans to cater for the continuation of a trend that is reshaping Australian racing. As part of its broader refurbishment plans at Eagle Farm, Morrison confirmed the BRC is already planning to significantly expand the female jockeys' room to accommodate the growing number of women riding at the top level. 'It's something we're proud to support. We're not just responding to what's happening now, we're preparing for what racing will look like in the future,' Morrison said. 'The growth in female participation is real, it's sustained, and it's only going in one direction.' Morrison, who was elected BRC chairman earlier this year when he replaced long-serving Neville Bell, feels there is a growing wave of female jockeys who are taking racing by storm. 'It's the first time a female rider will win the senior title, but it won't be the last,' Morrison said. 'This isn't a novelty or an aberration. 'It's a reflection of a changing industry and the incredible talent we're seeing from female riders across the board. 'Gone are the days where women were only given rides on outsiders as some kind of token gesture. 'Today, they have the trust of punters and the backing of the leading stables. They're riding the favourites and winning regularly. 'It's not just about the top two. 'Look at the apprentice ranks, there are 21 female apprentices and just eight males currently licensed to ride at provincial meetings in Queensland. 'Across the state, there are more registered female trackwork riders than male and the number of stablehands is similarly skewed. 'Thoroughbred racing across Australia would grind to a halt without the contribution of women.' COBALT MYSTERY Peter Hulbert, 79, has been training for 48 years without any of his horses ever registering a positive swab ... until a recent cobalt case. It is surely one of the cleanest records of any trainer in Australia who has trained over several decades or more. And Hulbert, who trains with son Will, said he is gobsmacked at how former import Dillian tested above the legal threshold for cobalt. 'I've got absolutely no idea,' Peter Hulbert said. 'I will be looking through the (horse) feed and investigating how this could have happened. 'I had to go before stewards on Thursday and that was the first time in 48 years I have been called upon before stewards for a positive swab.' in April and a $5000 fine imposed on its trainers.

Should the Wallabies have been given a penalty or did the Lions score a fair try?
Should the Wallabies have been given a penalty or did the Lions score a fair try?

ABC News

time3 minutes ago

  • ABC News

Should the Wallabies have been given a penalty or did the Lions score a fair try?

The Wallabies were less than one minute away from a famous victory against the British and Irish Lions, but a Hugo Keenan try broke Australian hearts and secured a Test series win for the tourists. But the Wallabies were adamant the try should not have been awarded, and the hearts of every player, coach, and the 90,307 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground briefly stopped as the television match official (TMO) checked a replay for foul play. As Lions fans rejoiced when the referee declared the try was fair, the Wallabies were left gutted and believing victory had been unjustly stolen from them. This is how the second Test between the Wallabies and Lions ended, and this is why it was so controversial. Needing a win to keep the Test series alive, the Wallabies led at the MCG from the fifth minute, all the way to the 80th minute. At one point in the first half, the Wallabies held a lead of 18 points, before the Lions began their comeback. Leading by two points with less than 60 seconds on the clock, the Lions were attacking the Wallabies' goal line. That's when the ball went wide to fullback Hugo Keenan, who charged over the line for the match-winning try, despite the best efforts of Wallaby centre Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii. But the Wallabies protested to the referee that there was foul play in the build-up, which the officials checked. With the fate of the Test on the line, the officials needed to decide if a Wallabies player had been the victim of foul play. The controversial moment came in the ruck prior to Keenan's try. Lions player James Ryan ran with the ball and was tackled 5 metres from the Wallabies' goal line. Australian player Carlo Tizzano is the first player at the scene and tries to get his hands on the ball. He is low to the ground, and gets his hands on the ball. If Tizzano can steal the ball, or if Ryan illegally holds onto it on the ground, the Wallabies will win the game. Lions player Jac Morgan sprints in to clear Tizzano out of the ruck and retain possession. Morgan lowers his body, hits Tizzano with his shoulder while wrapping his arms, and clears the Australian away from the ball. Tizzano reels out of the ruck, clutching the back of his head. The Lions retained the ball, and it was then passed out wide to Keenan, who scored. Wallabies captain Harry Wilson pleaded with the referee to have a look at the replay for foul play. The Wallabies argued that Moran's shoulder, in the act of cleaning out, made contact with the back of Tizzano's head. Wilson, and the Wallabies, argued there was foul play and they should be awarded a penalty, and the Lions' try should be disallowed. These are the two crucial rules: So, did the replays show Jac Morgan falling foul of either rule? The replays showed Morgan driving backwards, wrapping his arms and not rolling, pulling or twisting. Law 9.20 (d): Not Guilty. But, his initial contact was around the upper back, and lower neck. If the officials deemed Morgan had hit Tizzano around the shoulder blades, then that would be below the line of the shoulder. After around 90 seconds of looking at replays, Italian referee Andrea Piardi decided there was no foul play. Here is what he said into his microphone, which bellowed around the MCG, and through the televisions, computers and tablets around the world. "Both of the players arrived at the same time. "The player [Jac Morgan] is wrapping [his arms]. We don't see any foul play." Piardi is correct that Morgan was wrapping his arms. However, to say both players arrived at the same time would not be correct. Tizzano had his hands on the ball before Morgan made the breakdown. If Piardi was arguing they both lowered themselves into the contest at the same time, that would be wrong. Crucially, Piardi made no mention of where he thought Morgan had made contact on Tizzano. If he believes the contact was on the upper back, then the clean-out is legal. But if the officials believe the point of contact is on the neck, then players joining simultaneously would not excuse Morgan. Opinions on the referee's decision were split across enemy lines. Former England captain Martin Johnson thought the refs made the correct decision: Australia's most capped captain Michael Hooper believes the Wallabies should have been given the penalty: Former Wallaby Morgan Turinui was furious while commentating for Channel Nine: Lions player Owen Farrell, who was on the field, believed his team scored a fair try: Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt was crestfallen and thought his men were hard done by:

Mark ‘Frosty' Winterbottom urges students to join PM's Spelling Bee
Mark ‘Frosty' Winterbottom urges students to join PM's Spelling Bee

News.com.au

time27 minutes ago

  • News.com.au

Mark ‘Frosty' Winterbottom urges students to join PM's Spelling Bee

Fast machines, lightning laps and chequered flags made for a pretty distracting daydream when Supercars legend Mark Winterbottom was a boy. As a young 'westie' at Crawford Public School in Sydney, Winterbottom 'just always wanted to race cars'. 'So how does English and spelling … relate to race cars?' he said. 'You could never tell yourself as a student that you needed to have good English skills to race cars.' But h-i-n-d-s-i-g-h-t is a beautiful thing, with the Bathurst 1000 winner eventually adding commentator, mentor and now writer to his driver CV. As the fifth annual Prime Minister's Spelling Bee school round enters its second week with over 24,000 students across years 3-8 already registered, Winterbottom said Kids News' free, online, classroom competition was 'a great little challenge and life's about challenging yourself', adding that spelling was 'so important … I never knew it was this important when I was at school'. Raising his three sons Oliver, 14, Austin, 12, and Elliot, 6, in Melbourne with wife Renee, Winterbottom is laser-focused on the boys' literacy skills. He loves watching them play basketball, building sportsmanship and camaraderie, but said the need for spelling and comprehension skills was everywhere, including the track, court and field. 'In (the boys') basketball … we'll get sheets of defence plays, attack plays, that they have to read, study, remember,' he said. An active child himself, Winterbottom said it wasn't until he 'got into the real world' that he realised how essential spelling, reading and writing skills were if he ever wanted to succeed. 'My first ever boss – at Tickford Racing when I raced for Ford – was a billionaire,' Winterbottom said. 'He owned Aston Martin road cars, he owned a Formula One team, he flew in on a helicopter. 'He was a very, very well-spoken person. I remember as a 23-year-old thinking, 'I have to pronounce every word correctly', because although he knows I can race cars … otherwise I would feel like I was inferior. 'So I learnt very early on that you had to pronounce your words (well). You had to think about what you were saying, make sure the words that you were using actually meant what you (wanted) to say. 'You realise you've got to represent some of the biggest global companies, speak well in front of the camera (and) present well to CEOs of companies. 'You've got to have a certain high level of understanding of English, be articulate and pronounce and be representative of all those brands. I realised how important it was.' With an iconic turn in Cars 2 as his namesake character 'Frosty', Winterbottom said 'you have to put in the effort at school'. 'That's what I'm telling the kids: don't rely on AI because on the spur of the moment, it's not there for you. 'When you get into commentary, you have to be very (careful) with your wording and how you pronounce things on live TV; there's no second take, what you say goes to air. 'I spent the 20 years while I was racing … trying to upskill. English was definitely one I wish I had spent a lot more time on. We push the kids very hard on English now and they're doing very well.' With HarperCollins publishing his co-written memoir, Frosty, next month, Winterbottom said the process brought him 'relief to just write stuff down'. 'Lots of people have very similar upbringings,' he said. 'Motorsport might not be what they're trying to achieve, but they might go, 'Well, he turned that into a positive, maybe I can do the same'.' A self-made Aussie success story from humble Doonside roots, for Winterbottom, the need for foundation literacy is elementary and universal. 'You always want to improve,' he said. 'You become a better person and then you try to pass that on to your kids. (If) each one learns from the other one and upskills a little bit more, that's how you build generations.' ABOUT THE BEE â—� The Prime Minister's Spelling Bee is a free, online competition for students in Years 3-8. â—� Students compete at their school in three levels: Green level for Years 3-4, Orange level for Years 5-6 and Red level for Years 7-8. â—� They get 30 randomly selected words from their competition level and have 25 seconds to type each answer. The students with the most correct words in the fastest time progress to finals. â—� Teachers can register their students until August 22, when the school round ends. â—� State and territory finals will be held September 1-5 and the national finals on September 10-11. â—� The national champion in each age group wins a trip to Canberra to meet the Prime Minister, an iPad, HarperCollins book pack and a $1000 voucher for their school.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store