PORTHCAWL, Wales — There are two athletes in the field this week at the AIG Women’s Open who have opportunities to complete the Career Grand Slam – Minjee Lee and In Gee Chun.

The LPGA considers an athlete who has won four different major tournaments throughout their career to have finished the Career Grand Slam. If an athlete wins five different majors that were designated as such when they played, they would become a Super Career Grand Slammer alongside Australian Karrie Webb, who remains the only LPGA Tour athlete to have ever earned that distinction.

Lee took home her third career major victory in June at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The 29-year-old was one of just three players to finish under par that week at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco, and she ultimately won by three shots over Auston Kim and Chanettee Wannasaen to collect her 11th career LPGA Tour title, what was her first win since the 2023 BMW Ladies Championship.

It was Lee’s third different major victory, as she had become a first-time major champion in 2021 at The Amundi Evian Championship and then won the U.S. Women’s Open in 2022 at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, joining Webb as the second Australian to win that major at that venue.

She now needs a win at either the AIG Women’s Open, the 2025 edition of which is taking place this week at Royal Porthcawl, or The Chevron Championship to polish off the Career Grand Slam, what would be an illustrious highlight on Lee’s professional resume. She opened her week in Wales with a 2-under 70 and sits three shots off the pace early, a deficit that should be fairly simple for Lee to surmount as she pursues a fourth career major title.

Oddly enough, Republic of Korea native Chun needs the same two majors as Lee to finish her Career Grand Slam. Three of the 30-year-old’s four career LPGA Tour titles have been major championships, as Chun won the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club as a non-member, picked up her second major title the next year at the 2016 Amundi Evian Championship and then captured the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in 2022 at Congressional Country Club.

Chun came incredibly close to finishing the Slam at the 2022 AIG Women’s Open, ultimately falling in a four-hole playoff to Ashleigh Buhai at Muirfield, what is her career-best finish in this championship. She has also nearly captured The Chevron Championship title in years past, tying for second in 2016 when the tournament was still being contested at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

But while some goals may lose their luster and allure as an athlete’s career progresses, the Career Grand Slam has continued to motivate Chun, even as she has dealt with mental anguish and lingering injury in recent years, difficulties she is grateful from which she has recovered to compete against the world’s best once again on the LPGA Tour.

The major champion actually skipped the 2024 AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews, as Chun took a sabbatical last season after the U.S. Women’s Open to address some mental and physical health concerns that were ailing her, only returning to competitive golf at the start of the 2025 season.

So, the 3-under 69 Chun recorded on Thursday at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club wasn’t just a strong start to the year’s final major tournament for the three-time major champion.

Her first-round performance was also a resounding form of validation for Chun in her return to the United Kingdom, as it confirmed that she is still more than capable of achieving something as impactful as the Career Grand Slam in some of the most difficult conditions the Tour will face throughout a typical season, a reminder that Chun still has what it takes to make history on one of golf’s grandest stages.

Minjee Lee, In Gee Chun Chasing Career Grand Slams at AIG Women’s Open

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