FRISCO, TEXAS | Min Woo Lee, who won his first PGA Tour event in March, was once asked about the differences between him and his sister, LPGA player Minjee Lee. His answer explains a lot.
“Minjee’s a straight line,” he said. “Always focused on excellence as a golfer, never detouring.” Whereas his own path in the game, he added, has more resembled “a random, squiggly line.”
It was that straight line that led Minjee to her third LPGA major title on Sunday at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The 29-year-old Australian’s performance included a brilliant, bogey-free 69 in tough conditions Saturday followed by a closing 74 on the stern Fields Ranch East course at PGA Frisco, good for a three-stroke victory over Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen and American Auston Kim. It was Lee’s 11th LPGA title.
Lee’s poise down the stretch was clearly the domain of a player who has passed the major test before.
“I know the emotions. I know what it takes to win and I know just kind of what to feel and what to expect now that I have two [majors] under my belt,” Lee said Saturday night. “So, yeah I just think the experience that I’ve had really helps me.”
Minjee and her brother each won a U.S. Junior title, represented their native Australia in the 2024 Olympics and are only the third brother-sister combo to win tour events, joining Bill Kratzert/Cathy Gerring and Jim Gallager Jr./Jackie Gallagher-Smith.
Still, they could not be more different off the course. Min Woo is known for his nearly 1 million social media followers and his catchphrase, “Let him cook,” an expression of confidence in his abilities. He has inspired followers to attend PGA Tour events wearing large chef hats with his trademark saying emblazoned on it
Minjee, whose previous two major victories came at the 2021 Evian Championship and 2022 U.S. Women’s Open, is more reserved, though she signaled a bit of flamboyance by signing with fashion brand Malbon Golf before the 2025 season.
“I think it’s a bit of my personality,” she said at PGA Frisco.“I don’t get too high or too low, so I’m pretty calm out there. I try to fight adversity where it comes to me with a bit of calmness.”
She took command of the tournament on a windy and hot Saturday. Two strokes behind Jeeno Thitikul, she relied on her calmness and her broomstick putter to record a series of steady pars while Thitikul came undone and shot 76, giving Lee a four-stroke lead. On Sunday, she came back to the field with three early bogeys but steadied the ship, making three subsequent birdies that allowed her to play the 72nd hole with a three-stroke cushion.
Their differences don’t mean brother and sister aren’t close. When Min Woo was invited to the Masters for the first time in 2022, Minjee caddied for him in the Par-3 Contest.
The victory came not far from Lee’s adopted home of Irving, Texas, with her mother, Clara, as her guest for the week. Min Woo, by contrast, lives in glitzy Las Vegas and has acknowledged that his work ethic once paled in comparison to Minjee’s.
“My sister has always been good about hitting hundreds of balls at the range,” he said. “I would hit like 30 and get tired of it. She would do putting drills for hours; I would get bored and start messing around, putting balls in impossible places, trying to get up and down, and seeing if I could get a reaction from other people.”
Their differences don’t mean brother and sister aren’t close. When Min Woo was invited to the Masters for the first time in 2022, Minjee caddied for him in the Par-3 Contest. And Minjee watched her brother win the Texas Children’s Houston Open in March while aboard an airplane. She leaped from her seat when he made the winning putt.
“I’m sure my seatmates were wondering what was going on,” she recalled.
On Sunday, Min Woo shared in the excitement, with NBC airing his message of congratulations to his sister shortly after her victory.
As we’ve seen over and over again in professional golf, there are many different ways to win and many different personalities who have done it. With her victory at PGA Frisco, Minjee Lee added to a unique family tradition.
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Top: Minjee Lee says experience played a big part in winning her third major championship.
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