Minjee Lee Wins Weather-Delayed Kingsmill Championship


Though it took an extra day, the wait was worth it for Minjee Lee. The 18-year-old Australian withstood a weather delay on Sunday that forced the field in the Kingsmill Championship to finish on Monday, when Lee polished off a 6-under 65 to win the LPGA event in Williamsburg, Va., by two strokes.

Lee bogeyed the par-4 16th after three-putting, but came home with two pars to secure her first professional title. Prior to then, the two-time Australian Women's Amateur champion posted six birdies, an eagle on the par-5 15th and another bogey on the par-71 River Course at Kingsmill Resort to end up at 15-under 269, two shots ahead of South Korean So Yeon Ryu (67).

"Well, I three-putted the 16th, and I was like, ugh, let's just make two pars and get out of here," said Lee, who earned $195,000. "I was a little bit nervous, but I'm glad I could get the win."

Lee hopes the victory will propel her to bigger and better things. "Just because I won in my rookie season, I feel like I could probably do it again," she said. "Just kind of gives me confidence that I can play and win out here. So just a great confidence booster."

Ending up in third was American Alison Lee, who shot a 69. "This has been a really interesting week playing on Sunday in the final group and having to come in and finish out on Monday," said Lee, who still attends UCLA. "But it's a new learning experience every week. Even though I didn't come out on top this week, I really learned a lot. I'll take it to every tournament I go and remember it.

"Yeah, and I'm really happy for Minjee. Her and I go way back. We have had like a little rivalry since we were young. So proud of her. She's a great player."

Because of the Monday finish the 20-year-old Californian had to miss a U.S. Women's Open qualifier in the Richmond, Va., area. Hopefully, she'll be able to get to the next one. "I changed my flight to today. I'm flying in to California tonight. There's a qualifier in California tomorrow, so we're working with the USGA to see if I can try and qualify there," Alison Lee said.

In fourth place at 273 was 54-hole leader Perrine Delacour of France, who shot a 71, while tied for fifth at 274 were South Korea's Hyo Joo Kim (68), Norway's Suzann Pettersen (68) and American Paula Creamer (70).

Three players - Candie Kung, Catriona Matthew and Lexi Thompson - shared eighth at 276.

For all the scores, visit http://www.lpga.com/tournaments/kingsmill-championship/results.