A major winner at Evian in 2021 and at Pine Needles in 2022, Lee was at the top of the leaderboard with nine holes to play at last year’s US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club when her putter began to fail her.

For one of golf’s premier ball-strikers, putting was her occasional Achilles heel, any frailties cruelly exposed in a final nine holes where Lee shot 6-over 41 to fall into a tie for ninth.

A two-footer at the par-4 10th that didn’t touch the hole was the catalyst for change but it wasn’t until the end of the 2024 season that she and coach Ritchie Smith discussed experimenting with a broomstick putter to help clean up misses from four feet and in.

“We needed time to actually apply a bit of training to it and actually educate ourselves on it because a broomstick’s a different beast, and we’d never even considered using it,” admitted Smith.

Rather than seeking her own counsel, Lee trusted Smith to find the way it would work best.

Smith identified more stability in the face almost instantly, Lee trialling different grips with her right hand before settling on a “pistol grip”.

“He may have spoken to a couple of people about the fundamentals and the basics of how to putt with a broomstick but for me, personally, I didn’t really speak to anyone,” Lee told Golf Channel on ‘Live From The US Women’s Open’.

“You have to be open-minded to try this. The first few events were a bit of a trial for me.

“It got easier and easier as I was playing in tournaments and got a little more confidence in it.

“I don’t think I took to it straight away but it’s getting easier and easier to get the speed on more the long putts.

“The shorter putts are definitely easier.”

The numbers in 2025 back that up.

Dating back to 2021, Lee had never been higher than 127th on the LPGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting.

This year Lee, who celebrated her 29th birthday on Wednesday, is tied ninth and is 21st in putts per green in regulation, a welcome addition to the arsenal of a player also 12th in Strokes Gained: Off The Tee.

Mentally fresh after a two-week break in which she and Smith spent time fine-tuning her swing, Lee is once again invigorated by what the USGA are going to put forth this week at Erin Hills.

“Because of the coverage, I saw so much of it on TV so it became the one I’ve always wanted to win,” said Lee.

“That win in ’22 is very special to me.

“You want it to be challenging enough, but kind of fun for the viewership to be able to follow along where you make your birdies.

“Reachable par-4s or short par-3s but that have a lot of bunkers, like the ninth hole this week.

“For us, it’s more fun and more challenging to play courses like that than more of a real grind of a golf course.

“That’s really what makes a championship a championship.”

The 80th US Women’s Open is broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo all four days. Coverage of the first two rounds is 2am-10am Friday and Saturday with coverage to begin at 3am Sunday and 4am Monday.

Round 1 tee times AEST

US Women’s Open
Erin Hills, Erin, Wisconson
10:18pm          Stephanie Kyriacou
10:18pm*         Hannah Green
10:40pm*         Lydia Ko (NZ)
3:41am            Gabriela Ruffels
4:36am            Minjee Lee
4:58am*           Grace Kim
5:31am            Jennifer Elliott

Past champion: Yuka Saso
Past Aussie winners: Jan Stephenson (1983), Karrie Webb (2000, 2001), Minjee Lee (2022)
Prize money: $US12m
TV times: Live 2am-10am Friday, Saturday; Live 3am-8am Sunday; Live 4am-9am Monday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.

PGA TOUR
the Memorial Tournament
Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio
11:15pm          Cam Davis
1:10am            Ryan Fox (NZ)
1:30am            Min Woo Lee
3:10am            Adam Scott

Past champion: Scottie Scheffler
Past Aussie winners: David Graham (1980); Greg Norman (1990, 1995)
Prize money: $US20m
TV times: Live 9:45pm-8am Thursday, Friday; Live 12am-9:30am Sunday on Fox Sports 503; Live 12am-3am Monday on Fox Sports 507; Live 3:30am-8:30am Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.

DP World Tour
Austrian Alpine Open
Gut Altentann GC, Salzburg, Austria
4pm*               Daniel Hillier (NZ)
4:40pm*          Kazuma Kobori (NZ)
5:05pm            Jason Scrivener
8:20pm*          Danny List
9:20pm*          David Micheluzzi
10:15pm          Elvis Smylie, Daniel Gale

Past champion: John Catlin
Past Aussie winners: Richard Green (2007)
Prize money: $US2.75m
TV times: Live 8:30pm-1:30am Thursday, Friday; Live 9pm-1:30am Saturday; Live 8:30pm-1:30am Sunday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.

PGA TOUR Champions
Principal Charity Classic
Wakonda Club, Des Moines, Iowa
Aussies in the field: Steve Allan, David Bransdon, Greg Chalmers, Richard Green, Mark Hensby, Brendan Jones, Cameron Percy, John Senden, Michael Wright.

Past champion: Ernie Els
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US2m
TV times: 12:30pm-2pm Saturday; 1pm-2:30pm Sunday on Fox Sports 503; Live 5am-8am Monday on Fox Sports 507 and Kayo.

Korn Ferry Tour
UNC Health Championship
Raleigh Country Club, Raleigh, North Carolina
8:45pm*          Harrison Endycott
10:30pm*         Harry Hillier (NZ)
2:45am            Rhein Gibson

Past champion: Kaito Onishi
Past Aussie winners: Mark Hensby (2000)
Prize money: $US1m

Japan Golf Tour
Road to the British Open Mizuno Open
JFE Setonaikai Golf Club, Okayama
12:55pm          Michael Hendry (NZ)
1:25pm*          Brad Kennedy

Past champion: Ryosuke Kinoshita
Past Aussie winners: Brian Jones (1990), Roger Mackay (1991), Brendan Jones (2004, 2013), Chris Campbell (2005), Brad Kennedy (2012)
Prize money: ¥100m

LET Access Series
Santander Golf Tour – AVILA
Naturavila Golf, Spain
4:50pm*          Belinda Ji
5pm*               Justice Bosio
5:15pm*          Kristalle Blum
5:25pm*          Abbie Teasdale
10pm*             Stephanie Bunque

Past champion: Helen Briem
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: €45,000

HotelPlanner Tour
Challenge de Cadiz
Iberostar Real Golf Novo Sancti Petri, Cadiz, Spain
4:20pm            Hayden Hopewell
9pm                 Sam Jones (NZ)

Past champion: Jonathan Goth-Rasmussen
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: €300,000

Sunshine Tour
Gary and Vivienne Player Challenge
Benoni Country Club, Gauteng, South Africa
4:10pm            Austin Bautista

Past champion: Daniel van Tonder
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: R2m