New caddy new putter leads to 4th place finish for Minjee Lee
Minjee Lee – file photo courtesy of Golf Australia
Minjee Lee has begun her 2025 LPGA Tour season by producing the round of the final day (62) to surge into a share of 4th place at the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando.
Lee’s round of eight birdies and an eagle was three shots clear of the next best on day four.
“Yeah, I mean, starting with two birdies is always going to be a nice fast start. Before I started today I was like, let’s just get off to a really fast start and see how low I can do today.
“I just tried to ride the momentum over like the end of the — like the 8th and 9th hole and into the 10th and 11th. So that was nice.
“Having an eagle on 15, it was like the cherry on top. So just hit it really solid and made some really nice putts.”
Lee has a new (long) putter in the bag and the immediate impact was there for all to see.
“There are a lot of putters at the golf club, so I was just feeling around with a few. Not necessarily the long putter was my first choice. I think once I started practicing with it, it was — it was not super unnatural or didn’t feel too weird.
“For me, I think it’s just a little new adventure and see where it takes me.”
Lee also has a new caddy on the bag this season, Mikey Paterson, a former caddy for Karrie Webb and the husband of a friend of Lee’s in Perth Tanya taking over the role.
“Actually with Mikey, he worked for me two weeks last year — no, wait, in ’23, the International Crown and the Founders Cup, so it wasn’t something that was like totally new. He’s been around for a really long time so it’s not like he’s new to caddieing.
“It just feels very easy. We get along really well. His wife, Tanya, is from Perth as well and known her forever and seen Mikey around for a really long time as well.”
Lee finished six shots from Korea’s A Lim Kim, the 2020 US Women’s Open Champion who recorded her third LPGA Tour title with a two-shot win over Nelly Korda.
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, who was defending her 2024 title, finished a shot behind Lee in a share of 6th place while Hannah Green was 20th.
