Minjee Lee wins $US1 million bonus on eve of her return to Australia
Australian superstar Minjee Lee has won a $US 1 million bonus as she prepares for the LPGA Tour’s season-ending championship in Florida.
Media release
On the eve of her return to her home country for the ISPS HANDA Australian Open in Melbourne, the 26-year-old from Perth picked up the Aon Risk Reward Challenge with its seven-figure bonus prize, announced this morning.
She is the second Australian in a row to take the prize, after Hannah Green won last year.
The season-long competition rewards players who make better decisions on the most strategically challenging holes across both the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour, with Scottie Scheffler having won the men’s section in August.
“It’s inspiring to see a company like Aon show up for women’s golf in such a big way, and the equal prize money really showcases their dedication to gender equity, both on and off the golf course.” said Lee. “I’ve had a great season this year, and winning the Aon Risk Reward Challenge is just the cherry on top.”
Royal Fremantle’s Lee won twice this season including her second major, the US Women’s Open.
Her strong performance off the tee gave her the clarity and confidence she needed to make better decisions on the Aon Risk Reward Challenge holes, allowing her to go for the green 58 percent of the time versus the LPGA Tour average of 32 percent.
Her approach shots on challenge holes averaged 16 feet closer than the tour average and she finished the challenge second in strokes gained overall, which helped her to clinch this year’s title.
In its fourth season, the Aon Risk Reward Challenge highlights golf’s best strategic decision-makers. The challenge tabulates the two best scores from every participating event a player competes in. Players must compete in a minimum of 40 rounds throughout the season to qualify.
The challenge runs across regular season tournaments (38 on the PGA TOUR; 30 on the LPGA Tour), with CBS Sports and Golf Channel as official broadcast partners.
This week the world No. 5 Lee is playing in the CME Group Tour Championship before travelling to Melbourne for the Australian Open, where she will be one of the big drawcards as the tournament operates as dual-gender for the first time in history at Victoria and Kingston Heath golf clubs.