Australian golf star Minjee Lee could feel herself burning out at just 26 – after eight long years on tour – before a self-imposed sabbatical breathed new life into her 2023 season.
Lee finished 67th, 52nd, 41st and 44th in her first four starts this year so decided to head home to Perth, put the sticks away and sit on the beach for almost a month.
That was followed with some more downtime in Dallas and after six weeks off the tour, the former world No. 2 made a sizzling return at the Founders Cup.
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Lee may have fallen just short of defending her title in New Jersey – losing in the a playoff – but it was her best 72 holes of the season by a whopping 13 strokes.
She backed it up with seven straight top-20 finishes before winning two tournaments in three starts in September and October.
Lee arrived at the Australian Open this week on the back of three straight top-10 finishes and with the Greg Norman Medal around her neck.
The daughter of South Korean immigrants was last week awarded Australian golf’s highest individual honour for the third time in six years.
Lee credits her sublime back half of 2023 with resetting back in April.
“I just went to the beach and saw my friends, which was good, and I just did nothing. I just needed peace in my brain and to not think about golf,” Lee told foxsports.com.au.
“I think it did me really well because I kind of rushed through eight years and this is my ninth year on tour so I just felt like I needed a break to recuperate.
“I feel like I really had a really solid last two months with two wins on the LPGA and kind of got my game to have four good rounds.
“The first half of the year I just felt like the first two would be good then the next two would be average, and I just felt kind of jumbled.
“I got some confidence after my first win (after the break) and I was able to be a bit more relaxed and more confident in myself and my game finishing the year and hopefully I have a good week this week as well.”
Lee has played every Australian Open since 2010, but it’s one of few trophies on home soil that has eluded her grasp.
“This one has always been the one… as an Australian you always want to win your national Open and it’s always been high on my list to win,” she said.
“I’ve played every single one since I was 14 and it’s been the one that has always been hardest to win.
“I put the most pressure on myself here, I really want to do well so it’s subconscious pressure, not pressure you can see.
“You want to perform well in front of your home crowd and give them what they want but sometimes it just doesn’t happen, it’s golf.
“Although I do feel a little less pressure right now.
“This year I feel like I really deserved everything that I got, the wins, I felt like they were really deserved. I put a lot of work in, nobody can see it, right, they don’t know how much work you put in (behind the scenes).
“I put a lot of work into my game, myself, personal growth, everything, so for those wins to come together, they were wins of resilience, perseverance and grit.”
Lee doesn’t want to play professionally beyond her 34th birthday, but remains as hungry as ever to win and emphasised she has plenty left to achieve in the game.
The 27-year-old has won two majors and has the other three in her sights, as well as Olympic gold and the No. 1 ranking.
“It’s motivation to get there (world No. 1) but also being so close (world No. 2 in 2019) it’s a little frustrating that you didn’t quite get there,” she said.
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“But I’m fifth in the world rankings right now and hopefully next year I can do well in those majors and have those wins to get to that top spot.
“My ultimate goal is to be in the Hall of Fame so that means winning all the majors and a lot of times.”
GREEN BACK TO WINNING WAYS
Hannah Green enjoyed a stunning breakout season in 2019, with her first career victory incredibly happening at a major when she won the PGA Championship.
Green backed that up with another victory at the Portland Classic and in December 2019 was awarded the Greg Norman Medal, Australian golf’s highest individual honour.
“Then the world shut down,” Green told foxsports.com.au.
It would be almost four years before Green won again on the LPGA Tour title, finally ending the drought at the JM Eagle LA Championship in May.
“It’s hard. It’s hard to back up a season when you’ve won two that year and especially considering it wasn’t even a goal to win a tournament that year then I went and won a major and a couple months later I won again,” she said.
“So 2020 I was really excited for and then the world shut down, it was kind of hard to come back so I felt like the win this year was really important.
“I did win a few events in Australia in 2022 so that was a really nice way to get back into the season but it’s been an interesting year that’s for sure.
“I’ve not played my best golf but also come out with a win so it’s kind of hard to assess. I’m definitely hungry to keep winning trophies.
“I can’t really say that I’ve changed anything. It’s funny, the three wins I’ve had on the LPGA Tour, the weekend before I’ve missed the cut.
“So it’s not a great winning recipe to miss the week before but I guess form doesn’t really mean a lot which can sometimes be a good thing.
“I haven’t looked into the season too much, into stats or for whatever reason I came out on top but it’s something I will look into.”
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Green is world No. 28 and nationally No. 2 behind Minjee Lee, but like her star rival she’s never been able to win the Australian Open.
“I can’t say that I’ve had the trophy in my hand and someone has outplayed me, I just haven’t played as well as I would have liked.
“Winning golf tournaments is hard, people think that winning (just happens) but everything has to align for you to win a tournament.
“You have to play really well and this is a tough trophy to win. I think we put more pressure on ourselves because we are the favourites, I guess.
“We want to please the crowd and finish on a good result and it’s tough to not think about that from the opening round.
“There’s so much golf to be played and here at the Aussie it’s a tough finishing stretch so even if you have the advantage, even if you’re still a couple of holes behind, you can’t think too far ahead.”
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