Even if it didn’t come on the finishing hole, an eagle again proved to be the pivotal swing in the final round of the Lotte Championship.
Minjee Lee checked in for her 11:41 a.m. tee time on Saturday five shots out of the lead and mixed in three birdies over her first 12 holes to maintain contact with the leaders while not exactly threatening the frontrunners.
That is, until her third shot on Ko Olina Golf Club’s par-5 13th hole.
She’d left her drive in the rough and her 5-iron came up about 35 yards short of the pin.
Lee pulled out her wedge thinking “Let’s make a birdie, so hit it up close.”
Her shot bounced twice on the green and zipped into the cup for an eagle that propelled the 19-year-old Australian back into contention and ignited a remarkable six-hole surge that ultimately powered her to a dramatic comeback victory at 16-under-par 272.
Playing two groups ahead of the leaders, Lee birdied three of the next four holes and moved into a tie atop the leaderboard by curling in a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 17. A par on Ko Olina’s stingy 18th hole was enough to send her to the scoring tent to sign for an 8-under-par 64 with a one-shot edge over Katie Burnett and In Gee Chun.
“Actually, I didn’t really know where I stood until like maybe the 16th or 15th hole,” Lee said. “I had just glimpsed my name and was tied for second. I birdied 17, so I was like, ‘I’m going to be pretty close.’ ”
Lee was on the practice green as Burnett and Chun walked up No. 18 hoping Sei Young Kim had left some magic around the green a year after she won a Lotte playoff with an eagle from the fairway.
But Lee could put the clubs away and celebrate her second LPGA Tour win — as well as a $270,000 payout — when Burnett, then Chun came up short on their birdie putts.
Lee was tied for the lead after a blustery opening round at Ko Olina on Wednesday and claimed the solo lead after 36 holes with a 6-under 66 on Thursday. But she played her next 18 without a birdie while carding a 2-over 74 on Friday to drop into a tie for sixth, five shots behind Burnett.
Lee made a 10-shot improvement on Saturday to catch and pass Burnett, who battled to fend off a ravenous pack throughout the afternoon before finishing with a 2-under 70 for a four-day total of 15 under.
“Just because I had a not-so-great round yesterday didn’t mean I couldn’t shoot a low score today,” said Lee, who went through 18 holes with just 22 putts after taking 32 on Friday.
“I just came out with … a fresh mind-set. I just came out and played one shot at a time.”
While Lee smiled with the trophy on the 18th green and performed the obligatory champion’s hula, Burnett signed autographs outside the scoring tent, no doubt having made some new fans with a gritty performance while posting her highest finish in 51 starts on tour.
“Coming into today knowing the wind wasn’t going to blow as bad I knew somebody was going to shoot 7, 8 under,” said Burnett, who entered the week ranked 195th in the world and had made $19,193 in five starts this season before earning another $143,765 this week.
“I just tried to basically focus on what I can control and I can’t control what other people are going to shoot. … I don’t necessarily feel like I lost the tournament. I feel like Minjee just won it. Eight under, I mean, that’s pretty solid.”
For much of the afternoon, the focus was on the battle within the final group of Burnett, Chun and Su-Yeon Jang.
Chun, the reigning U.S. Women’s Open champion, finished at 5-under 67 on Saturday to tie Burnett for second at 15 under, while Jang faltered late in a round of 1-under 71 and slipped to fifth at 13 under. Moriya Jutanugarn fired a second-straight round of 68 to place fourth at 14 under.
Burnett began the day at 13 under after closing with a chip-in birdie on Friday and her run of bogey-free holes ended at 42 with a 5 at the par-4 seventh. But she managed to stay a step ahead until Lee rolled her sixth birdie of the afternoon on No. 17 to match her at 16 under.
Burnett rammed her birdie putt on the par-3 16th well past the hole and a three-putt bogey dropped her back to 15 under. She then saw a chance to tie slip away when a 6-foot birdie putt on 17 spun out of the cup.
“I hit a really good putt, it just broke more than we thought,” Burnett said. “So you really can’t get mad at those things and you can’t really get mad that somebody shoots 64.”
Lee, meanwhile, was short of the green on her first two shots on No. 18 and got up and down for par, forcing Burnett and Chun to birdie to force a playoff.
Burnett’s second shot leaked to the right, giving her a lengthy look at birdie and her attempt curled up short of the hole for a tap-in par. Chun had a downhill putt from about 16 feet, but also stopped before the hole to end the tournament and start Lee’s celebration.
