Minjee Lee makes history with record-breaking fourth Greg Norman Medal triumph

Minjee Lee has won a record-breaking fourth Greg Norman Medal, solidifying her standing as Australia’s best golfer of the past decade and extending our women’s dominance in the sport.

Minjee Lee has won a fourth Greg Norman Medal. Picture: Getty Images

Minjee Lee won a record-breaking fourth Greg Norman Medal, solidifying her standing as Australia’s best golfer of the past decade.

Lee, who won the third major of her career this year, was crowned as the country’s outstanding achiever for the fourth time at a glittering ceremony in Brisbane on Tuesday night.

The 29-year-old world No.4 was a short-priced favourite to scoop the award after a stellar season in which she won the KPMG PGA Championship and was third behind countrywoman Grace Kim at another major, France’s Evian Championship.

It was the third time Lee has won the award in the past five years, following on from successes in 2021 and 2023.

Between Minjee Lee and Hannah Green (2024), women have won the Greg Norman Medal in four of the past five years. Picture: Getty Images

Given Hannah Green’s first Greg Norman Medal win last year, Australia’s top female stars have won the honour in four of the last five years, broken only by Cameron Smith in 2022 when he won The Open Championship in stunning fashion at St Andrews.

Lee made a huge change to her game this year by switching to a long putter on the advice of coach Ritchie Smith, and it paid immediate dividends with one of her most consistent years on the LPGA Tour.

She rose from a year end ranking of 18 in 2024 to be entrenched inside the top five. Lee trails only Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul, the United States’ Nelly Korda and Japan’s Miyu Yamashita on the rankings, with Korda relinquishing top spot after a rare winless season.

Minjee Lee rose from 18th in the world in 2024 to the top five. Picture: Getty Images

She finished her LPGA Tour campaign with a tied-13th finish at the CME Group Tour Championship.

In any other season, Kim’s breakthrough major victory would have been enough to secure the Greg Norman Medal, but the Sydneysider was shaded by Lee, whose game has returned to the heights of a few years ago.

Kim recorded an eagle-birdie-eagle finish to pip Thitikul to the Evian after two thrilling play-off holes.

Lee’s younger brother Min Woo Lee, who won his first event on the PGA Tour this year, will be attempting to claim his second Australian PGA Championship in a star-studded field at Royal Queensland this week.

Originally published as Minjee Lee makes history with record-breaking fourth Greg Norman Medal triumph