It may have taken an extra day, but 18-year-old Minjee Lee certainly didn’t mind waiting to hoist her first LPGA Tour championship trophy in Williamsburg, Va., last year.
Lee completed a stellar round of 65 on Monday to hold off So Yeon Ryu by two strokes and win the Kingsmill Championship Presented by JTBC, becoming just the seventh player in LPGA history to win before her 19th birthday. She was also the third rookie to win an event last year and became a Rolex First-Time Winner in the process.
The win was a relief for the talented teen.
“I didn't think that moment would come this year, so I'm stoked to have won,” she said after the win. “I three-putted the 16th, and I was like, ‘Ugh, let’s make two pars and get out of here.’ I was nervous, but I’m glad I could get the win.”
Lee has already added career win No. 2 this season at the LOTTE Championship Presented by HERSHEY and should be in the mix this weekend. The world’s 12th-ranked player will have a strong field to contend with at the $1.3 million event, including world No. 1 Lydia Ko and second-ranked Inbee Park, who is returning from an injury.
Action begins Thursday at the par-71, 6,379-yard River Course at Kingsmill Resort, and fans will be treated to a “Who’s Who?” of Tour stars that also includes Lexi Thompson and Stacy Lewis. No player has been better at the resort than Cristie Kerr, who won the tournament in 2005, 2009 and 2013, and she will be back this week looking for title No. 4.
Other past Kingsmill champions teeing it up this week are: Lizette Salas (2014); Suzann Pettersen (2007); Karrie Webb (2006); and Se Ri Pak (2004). Throw in 2016 winners Hyo Joo Kim, Haru Nomura, Sei Young Kim, Jenny Shin and Ariya Jutanugarn and the plot thickens.
Each of the last eight tournament champions have been well into double figures in the red, so it won’t take long for struggling players to fall behind the leaders. The birdies should be plentiful and the atmosphere pressure-packed as the world’s best battle for the winner’s share.
This week’s event kicks off a marathon 11-week summer stretch that will go a long way in determining who is in the running for season-ending awards. It’s going to be a hot and busy summer, and Kingsmill gets it all started in style with amazing hospitality and a fun atmosphere players love.
Golf Channel will broadcast the action from 9-11 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday and from 3-5 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday, so golf fans who aren’t lucky enough to watch the event in person don’t have to miss a single drive or putt.
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