"VAN" (Sports Desk - 28.05.2025) :: The putter switch instigated by Minjee Lee’s back-nine collapse 12 months ago gets its ultimate shot at redemption at this week’s US Women’s Open at Erin Hills.
A major winner at Evian in 2021 and at Pine Needles in 2022, Lee was at the top of the leaderboard with nine holes to play at last year’s US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club when her putter began to fail her.
For one of golf’s premier ball-strikers, putting was her occasional Achilles heel, any frailties cruelly exposed in a final nine holes where Lee shot 6-over 41 to fall into a tie for ninth.
A two-footer at the par-4 10th that didn’t touch the hole was the catalyst for change, but it wasn’t until the end of the 2024 season that she and coach Ritchie Smith discussed experimenting with a broomstick putter to help clean up misses from four feet and in.
“We needed time to actually apply a bit of training to it and actually educate ourselves on it because a broomstick’s a different beast, and we'd never even considered using it,” admitted Smith.
Rather than seeking her own counsel, Lee trusted Smith to find the way it would work best.
Smith identified more stability in the face almost instantly, Lee trialling different grips with her right hand before settling on a “pistol grip”.
“He may have spoken to a couple of people about the fundamentals and the basics of how to putt with a broomstick but for me, personally, I didn’t really speak to anyone,” Lee told Golf Channel on ‘Live From The US Women’s Open’.
“You have to be open-minded to try this. The first few events were a bit of a trial for me.
“It got easier and easier as I was playing in tournaments and got a little more confidence in it.
“I don’t think I took to it straight away but it’s getting easier and easier to get the speed on more the long putts.
“The shorter putts are definitely easier.”
The numbers in 2025 back that up.
Dating back to 2021, Lee had never been higher than 127th on the LPGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting.
This year Lee, who celebrated her 29th birthday on Wednesday, is tied ninth and is 21st in putts per green in regulation, a welcome addition to the arsenal of a player also 12th in Strokes Gained: Off The Tee.
Mentally fresh after a two-week break in which she and Smith spent time fine-tuning her swing, Lee is once again invigorated by what the USGA are going to put forth this week at Erin Hills.
“Because of the coverage, I saw so much of it on TV so it became the one I’ve always wanted to win,” said Lee.
“That win in ’22 is very special to me.
“You want it to be challenging enough, but kind of fun for the viewership to be able to follow along where you make your birdies.
“Reachable par-4s or short par-3s but that have a lot of bunkers, like the ninth hole this week.
“For us, it’s more fun and more challenging to play courses like that than more of a real grind of a golf course.
“That’s really what makes a championship a championship.”
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