For the second-straight week on the LPGA Tour, 72 holes couldn’t decide a winner. But when the dust finally settled on Sunday at Seowon Hills, it was Minjee Lee who earned her 10th tour victory, and first in the Republic of Korea, at the BMW Ladies Championship.
Lee earned her second playoff appearance of the season, and second in her three most recent starts. (Lee claimed her first win of the season at the Kroger Queen City Championship this past September.) The Aussie defeated Alison Lee on the first overtime hole.
“Going into the back nine, the first probably five holes, I wasn’t quite as nervous. I was probably a bit more excited than nervous to be fair,” said Minjee Lee. “These last few holes, I was quite excited to play, and you know, we always want to be putting ourselves in that position, in the contending position, week-in, week-out and I was lucky enough to do it this week. It’s just really fun to play in those type of conditions and those situations, so I think I really had fun out there this week.”
This was Lee’s second playoff in the Republic of Korea, after losing to Carlota Ciganda at the 2016 LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship. It was a disappointing end to the week, but Lee hopes to take this experience into the rest of the season.
“We’re nearing towards the end of the season. I feel really good about my game. I feel like I’m hitting it so well and I had so many putts this week lip out, and I can’t stop thinking about all those small mistakes that I potentially made,” said Alison Lee.
“Yeah, really happy for Minjee. She obviously played really well. It’s disappointing that I couldn’t make my birdie putt and give it another shot playing 18 another time, but it is what it is.”
Lydia Ko recorded her fourth-straight sub-70 round to finish in solo third at -14.
Angel Yin, coming off her victorious week at the Buick LPGA Shanghai, finished in solo fourth at -13, while five players were T5 on 12 under: Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Jeongeun Lee6, Atthaya Thitikul, Jiyai Shin and Celine Boutier.
BMW Ladies Championship
Final Top 5
Pos-Player-Score (Final Rd)
1. Minjee Lee* -16 (-4)
2. Alison Lee -16 (-5)
3. Lydia Ko -14 (-3)
4. Angel Yin -13 (-5)
5. Jodi Ewart Shadoff -12 (-7)
5. Jeongeun Lee6 -12 (-5)
5. Atthaya Thitikul -12 (-3)
5. Jiyai Shin -12 (-5)
5. Celine Boutier -12 (-2)
LPGA Communication’s press release and notes were used to produce this report.