Lee has not won since her playoff victory over Alison Lee at Seowon Valley Country Club 12 months ago, the return to a familiar setting with family support all around here – not to mention the Korean food – putting her in the right frame of mind for a successful defence.

Paired with New Zealand’s Lydia Ko and local hope Haeran Ryu for Thursday’s opening round, the 28-year-old is drawing on every positive memory she can to bring an end to her winning drought.

“It’s always a special week when I get to come back, and I enjoy the Korean food,” said Lee, who was part of an LPGA entourage who feasted on Korean barbecue on Tuesday.

“It’s very close to my heritage and I get to see my extended family as well. That’s always nice.

“And coming back to a golf course where you’ve won before and the memories, that’s cool, too.

“I just played one of the nines, and was like, Oh, this is where I holed a putt. And with Brad (caddie Brad Beecher) out there, we were talking about it just then.

“It’s just nice to come back; we have such great memories.”

Lee is one of five Aussies in the field this week, Hannah Green chasing a third win for the year, Grace Kim seeking her second LPGA Tour title and Gabi Ruffels and Hira Naveed both hunting their first.

The competition between Aussies will be strong in Thailand, too, with a total of 19 to contest the Black Mountain Championship on the Asian Tour.

Currently seventh on the Order of Merit, Travis Smyth will be out to continue his excellent season while Wade Ormsby returns to the same venue where he was victorious in the International Series a year ago.

Like Lee, Ormsby hopes to draw on that experience, albeit in a different tournament.

“It’s always nice to come back to a place where you have had success,” Ormsby said.

“The conditions are a little bit different this year, course looks a little bit wetter.

“They’ve had a lot of rain around here lately but the course looks in great shape.”

Ten Australians have qualified for week one of the PGA TOUR Champions playoffs while Cam Davis and Aaron Baddeley will fly the Aussie flag at the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas.

Round 1 tee times

PGA TOUR
Shriners Children’s Open
TPC Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nevada
6:07am            Aaron Baddeley
6:29am            Cam Davis
7:02am*           Ryan Fox (NZ)

Defending champion: Tom Kim
Past Aussie winners: Greg Norman (1986), Stuart Appleby (2003), Andre Stolz (2004), Rod Pampling (2016)
Prize money: $US7 million
TV times: Live 4am-11am Friday, Saturday; Live 8am-11am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.

LPGA Tour
BMW Ladies Championship
Seowon Valley Country Club, Seowon Hills, Republic of Korea
10:21am*         Grace Kim
10:54am*         Hira Naveed
11:49am          Hannah Green
12pm               Gabriela Ruffels
12:22pm          Lydia Ko (NZ), Minjee Lee

Defending champion: Minjee Lee
Past Aussie winners: Minjee Lee (2023)
Prize money: $US2.2 million
TV times: Live 2pm-6pm Thursday, Friday on Fox Sports 503; Live 2pm-6pm Saturday on Fox Sports 505; Live 2pm-6pm on Fox Sports 507 and Kayo.

DP World Tour
Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters
Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, Andalucía, Spain
10:50pm*         David Micheluzzi
11:50pm          Daniel Hillier (NZ)

Defending champion: Adrian Meronk
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US3.25 million
TV times: Live 11pm-4am Thursday, Friday; Live 10:30pm-3am Saturday; Live 8pm-1am Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.

Asian Tour
Black Mountain Championship
Black Mountain Golf Club, Thailand
10:45am*         Travis Smyth
10:55am*         Ben Campbell (NZ)
11:05am*         Nick Voke (NZ)
11:15am          Zach Murray
11:25am*         Jack Thompson
11:45am*         Jordan Zunic
3:05pm*          Douglas Klein
3:15pm            Kazuma Kobori (NZ)
3:15pm*          Harrison Crowe
3:25pm*          Todd Sinnott
3:45pm            Wade Ormsby
3:35pm*          Andrew Dodt
4:05pm*          Aaron Wilkin
4:15pm            Brendan Jones, Kevin Yuan
4:15pm*          Maverick Antcliff, Marcus Fraser
4:25pm            Deyen Lawson
4:25pm*          Justin Warren
4:35pm            Jed Morgan, Sam Brazel
4:35pm*          Lachlan Barker

Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US2 million
TV times: Live 5pm-6pm Thursday on Fox Sports 505; Live 6pm-9pm Thursday on Fox Sports 503; Live 5pm-6pm Friday on Fox Sports 505; Live 3pm-7pm Saturday on Fox Sports 507; Live 6pm-7:15pm Sunday on Fox Sports 507 and Kayo.

PGA TOUR Champions
Dominion Energy Charity Classic
The Country Club of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
Australasians in the field: Steven Alker (NZ), Steve Allan, Stuart Appleby, David Bransdon, Greg Chalmers, Richard Green, Mark Hensby, Rod Pampling, Cameron Percy, John Senden, Michael Wright.

Defending champion: Harrison Frazar
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US2.3 million
TV times: Live 5am-8am Saturday on Fox Sports 505; Live 5am-8am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.

Challenge Tour
Hangzhou Open
Hangzhou West Lake Golf Club, Hangzhou, China
2:20pm*          George Worrall
2:40pm*          Hayden Hopewell

Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US500,000

Korean PGA Tour
The Charity Classic 2024
Sulhaewon CC, Republic of Korea
9am                 Sungjin Yeo (NZ)
9:40am            Kevin Chun (NZ)
10:20am*         Wonjoon Lee
2pm*               Junseok Lee
2:10pm            Scott Hend

Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize Money: KRW1 billion

Sunshine Tour
Fortress Invitational
Glendower Golf Club, Edenvale, South Africa
Australasians in the field: Austin Bautista

Defending champion: Robin Williams
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: R2 million