Min Lee celebrates 24th birthday with Valley Forge Invitational win
While Lee played her final round Sunday, the clock struck midnight in her homeland of Chinese Taipei, meaning it was her 24th birthday. She gave herself a terrific present, her first win in the United States since 2014.
As Min Lee was playing the 10th hole in Sunday’s final round of the Valley Forge Invitational at Raven’s Claw Golf Club, the clock struck midnight in her homeland of Chinese Taipei, meaning it was her 24th birthday.
What better way for Lee to give herself a birthday present than by what she was able to achieve a little more than two hours later, winning the second annual Symetra Tour event with a par on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to defeat Esther Lee.
Apparently Min Lee hasn’t had a birthday as a professional golfer quite like this one.
“For the last couple of years, my experiences when I’ve played tournaments my birthday week, it hasn’t been very successful,” she said after winning the $18,750 first prize from the $125,000 purse.
“So it’s a great week for me. I said that before I played in the tournament, that I never had a great experience when I played during my birthday. I think this kind of breaks that little record.”
Lee, who fired a 5-under-par 66 to finish at 15-under 198, broke another drought, winning her first tournament in the United States since 2014 when she was a 19-year-old Symetra Tour rookie. She captured two tournaments in Asia last year but this one was special.
“It definitely gives me a lot of confidence that I’m able to do this, because I’ve been down for a long time,” she said. “So I don’t know, [it’s] just confirming I’m going in the right direction, so I’m just going to keep going on this path.”
Lee, who led or shared the lead after each of the three rounds, birdied six holes of her first nine holes, including four in a row, and made the turn with a 3-shot lead. She also birdied No. 11 but Esther Lee started her charge, carding birdies at 11 and 12.
Min Lee dropped a shot with a 3-putt bogey at the par-4 15th and minutes later, Esther Lee sank a 12-foot birdie putt at No. 16 to create a tie for the lead. Both players finished par-par, although Min Lee left short a 6-foot birdie putt at 18 for the win in regulation.
For the playoff, the two players returned to 18, where Esther Lee’s second shot found the left greenside bunker. Her sand shot went 20 feet past and she missed the par putt, allowing Min Lee to 2-putt from 12 feet for the win.
“I played a lot of good golf this week so that’s good news going forward,” said Esther Lee, 24, a four-time All-American from Los Alamitos, Calif. “A lot of positives came out of this.’
As it did for Min Lee, who left Raven’s Claw for this week’s ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway, N.J., where she begins the week as second alternate.
Notes
Perrine Delacour of France birdied three of her last four holes for a 67 and shared third place with Jenny Coleman. Coleman, who finished in a fourth-place tie here last year, played in the final group with Min Lee but couldn’t buy a putt and had a 68. … Cheyenne Woods had her best round of the week, carding seven birdies for a 65 that enabled her to vault from 53rd to a tie for 15th place. Woods, the niece of Tiger Woods, is playing at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. … Symetra Tour regular Brittany Benvenuto of Langhorne finished with a 74 for a 213 total. … New Hope’s Kellie Edelblut closed with a 72 for 215.