A one-shot leader at the start of the final round, Lee had to battle through struggles with her normally stellar iron play to stave off a charging Lexi Thompson, holing a three-foot birdie putt at the 72nd hole for a closing two-under 70, a 19-under total and a two-shot victory.

A superb second round of nine-under 63 put Lee in position to record her first win since her major breakthrough at last year’s Amundi Evian Championship but she would have to conjure willpower over execution to get it done.

What would ultimately prove to be a good bogey, Lee’s dropped shot after missing the green with her tee shot at the par-3 eighth brought Thompson (69) and Angel Yin (67) into the fight for the outright lead.

The trio were tied at the top early in the back nine and when Lee and Thompson both made birdie at the par-5 12th were locked together at 17-under with six holes to play.

Although her brilliant wedge into the tournament’s final hole was the perfect exclamation point, the 25-year-old credited her win with the birdie at the par-5 14th that restored her status as the solo leader.

“I knew the last four holes would be tough to make birdies on so I figured that if I made birdie on 14 it would give me a pretty good chance to be leading or tied leading going into 18,” explained Lee, who is now fourth on the all-time list of Australian winners on the LPGA Tour behind Karrie Webb (41), Jan Stephenson (16) and Rachel Hetherington (eight).

“That’s what turned the tables a little bit.

“In the very beginning I missed a couple of short putts and didn’t really catch that momentum.

“Through the middle and towards the end of my round my ball-striking kind of went out the window.

“I fought really hard this whole day and to finish with a couple of birdies and come out with the win is just really special.”

Ranked first in average proximity to the hole in six separate categories from 100 to 250 yards this season, the iron play for which Lee is revered left her when she needed it most.

The West Australian did hit 13 of 18 greens in regulation but said it was her mental strength that carried her across the line, an asset she can call on again as the chunk of the LPGA major season approaches.

“I don’t really remember the last time I worked this hard for a win,” said Lee, who is now 3-0 when holding the outright lead through 54 holes.

“Mentally I was in quite a good headspace, it was my iron play that I struggled with a bit on the back nine.

“I’m just proud of myself that I played four days of really good golf and I was able to fight through this round and come out with a win.

“I’m super excited for the events coming up. We have a really great stretch with the US Open, KPMG and I think if I keep working on the same things I’ll be in pretty good shape.”

Lee wasn’t the only Australian woman to have a win the past week, Whitney Hillier claiming the teams event as part of the Ladies European Tour’s Aramco Series event in Bangkok.

Paired with Chonlada Chayanun, Krista Bakker and amateur Pattanan Amatanon, Hillier and co. backed up their excellent first round to post a 31-under total for the two rounds to hand Hillier her first LET title.

“I’m so proud of my team,” said Hillier.

“Everything just flowed and obviously we played great golf, but we had a lot of the fun, so that was the most important thing too.

“This is my 10th year on tour, and for my first win to be in a team event, like that’s pretty cool.”

The best result for the Aussie men came with Stuart Appleby and Rod Pampling’s tie for third at the Champions Tour’s Regions Tradition tournament in Alabama while Kiwis Ryan Fox and Ben Campbell were unable to convert 54-hole leads on the DP World Tour and Japan Golf Tour respectively.

Fox finished runner-up behind England’s Sam Horsfield at the Soudal Open in Belgium while Campbell’s closing 72 saw him finish tied for eighth at the Asia Pacific Open Golf Championship Diamond Cup.

Results

LPGA Tour
Cognizant Founders Cup
Upper Montclair Country Club, Clifton, New Jersey
Winner Minjee Lee         67-63-69-70—269           $US450,000
T12        Lydia Ko              69-74-69-67—279           $46,366
63          Sarah Kemp       72-69-71-75—287           $7,178
MC        Stephanie Kyriacou         73-71—144
MC        Sarah Jane Smith             71-77—148
MC        Katherine Kirk    70-80—150

PGA TOUR
AT&T Byron Nelson
TPC Craig Ranch, McKinney, Texas
Winner KH Lee  64-68-67-63—262           $US1.638m
T32        Adam Scott        67-69-71-65—272           $50,808
T51        Marc Leishman 73-66-69-67—275           $21,635
T51        Jason Day           68-68-73-66—275           $21,635
MC        Brett Drewitt     69-72—141
MC        Cameron Percy  72-71—143

DP World Tour
Soudal Open
Rinkven International GC, Antwerp, Belgium
Winner Sam Horsfield    65-69-69-68—271           €327,000.44
T2          Ryan Fox             68-68-66-71—273           €166,385.52
T58        Josh Geary         70-71-74-71—286           €5,578.24
MC        Wade Ormsby   71-72—143
MC        Maverick Antcliff             74-70—144
MC        Zach Murray      72-78—150

Japan Golf Tour/Asian Tour
Asia Pacific Open Golf Championship Diamond Cup
Oarai Golf Club, Ibaraki, Japan
Winner Shugo Imahira   66-69-69-68—272           ¥20m
T6          Kazuma Kobori (a)          67-70-68-69—274           ——
T8          Ben Campbell    67-70-66-72—275           ¥3,033,333
T18        Todd Sinnott      66-68-77-68—279           ¥978,333
T43        Brad Kennedy    69-74-69-72—284           ¥560,000
T49        Jimmy Hydes (a)              67-73-75-70—285           —–
MC        Jake Higginbottom          83-71—154

Ladies European Tour
Aramco Team Series – Bangkok
Thai Country Club, Bangkok, Thailand
Winner Manon De Roey 70-67-66—203  €71,856.75
T8          Whitney Hillier  71-70-69—210  €11,736.61

Korn Ferry Tour
Visit Knoxville Open
Holston Hills Country Club, Knoxville, Tennessee
Winner Anders Albertson            62-67-65-66—260           $US135,000
T76        Ryan Ruffels      69-69-72-70—280           $2,820
MC        Nick Voke           69-70—139
MC        Curtis Luck         69-71—140
MC        Harrison Endycott           69-72—141
MC        Rhein Gibson     71-71—142

Champions Tour
Regions Tradition
Greystone Golf and Country Club, Birmingham, Alabama
Winner Steve Stricker    65-68-66-68—267          $US375,000
T3          Rod Pampling    68-70-69-67—274          $128,000
T3          Stuart Appleby  68-69-68-69—274          $128,000
T3          Steven Alker      68-69-65-72—274          $128,000
T26        David McKenzie 68-76-72-67—283          $20,786
T36        Stephen Leaney 71-71-70-73—285          $14,063
62          Robert Allenby  75-70-70-78—293          $4,000
72          John Senden      81-72-76-75—304          $1,900