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As the only player to not just win one of the season’s five major titles but to also record multiple top 10s in the biggest events of the year, Minjee Lee clinched the Rolex Annika Major Award, which is given to the player with the most consistent record in the year’s five major championships – the Chevron Championship, the U.S. Women’s Open presented by ProMedica, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the Amundi Evian Championship, and the AIG Women’s Open.
Lee’s record in the majors was second to none in 2022.
In the final playing at Mission Hills, Lee recorded a 12th place finish at the Chevron Championship, the first major of the year. Then, the Aussie earned her second major title at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles to jump to the top of the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award point standings. Lee won at a record 13-under par to become only the third player from Australia to win that major, joining her longtime mentor Karrie Webb and Jan Stephenson. Lee recorded a runner-up finish at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club to further solidify her place atop the standings. She bounced back from a T43 finish at the Amundi Evian Championship with a T4 at the AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield to clinch the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award.
“I’ve had some really great finishes at the majors,” Lee said after the final round at Muirfield. “I won the U.S. Open and I did really well at the KPMG, and I think I’m going to finish pretty well here, too. I feel like I’m trending in the right direction, and pretty excited for the rest of the season.”
Lee took a 24-point lead in the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award point standings into the season’s final major and was one of nine players with a chance of securing the award. Points are awarded to players who finish inside the top 10 in each of the five majors, but a player must have also won at least one of the five majors in order to qualify for the award.
Lee earned a total of 98 points over the course of the major season, narrowly edging out In Gee Chun who won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and finished runner-up at the AIG Women’s Open. Chun earned 84 points to finish solo second behind Lee. Brooke Henderson, who won the Amundi Evian Championship and recorded a tie for seventh at the AIG Women’s Open, finished third with 68 points.
Lee becomes the eighth different winner of the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award since it was established in 2014. She joins an elite list of winners which includes Michelle Wie West (2014), Inbee Park (2015), Lydia Ko (2016), So Yeon Ryu (2017), Ariya Jutanugarn (2018), Jin Young Ko (2019) and Patty Tavatanakit (2021).
Lee will be presented the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Fla. in November.
