Near miss for Minjee Lee in Founders Cup
Minjee Lee – agonising loss but sharp improvement all the same- photo Getty Images / LPGA
With just a few holes to play, Minjee Lee appeared on track to successfully defend the Cognizant Founders Cup title in New Jersey but a late bogey by her and a strong finishing round by Korean Jin Young Ko saw Ko come from four shots off the 54 hole pace to win at the first extra hole.
Lee three putted the first hole of the playoff and finished runner-up but considering her previous best in four LPGA Tour strokeplay starts in 2023 had been 41st, it was a significant improvement for the 26 year old.
Lee led into the final round by three, but a slow start to her round and a double bogey at the 6th hole had the field closing in on her and with Ko, a former world number one, having won this event on two previous occasions it became a dogfight for the title.
“I mean, apparently this is only my fifth start on tour this year, so it actually doesn’t feel like I’ve only played five events,” said Lee.
“It’s still pretty early I guess in my season and I have a lot more events coming up. So I feel like I could take a lot of positives into, you know, the next couple majors coming up and obviously Mizuho is my next event.
“I mean, yes obviously I would’ve liked to have won, but looking back at my whole year and just kind of assessing where I am — how I did this week, I think a lot more positives than negatives.
“Obviously I’m a little bit disappointed, but I think I can take more of the happy moments into my next — into the next stretch of events and the rest of the year.”
Grace Kim continued her good rookie season when she finished 10th despite a final round of 75, while Sarah Kemp was the next best of the Australians when she finished 13th.
