Australian star Minjee Lee could add a third million-dollar collect for 2022 at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship after securing a second $1m payday without playing a shot.
Lee, who picked up $1.8m when she won this year’s US Open, didn’t play at the LPGA’s Pelican Championship, where fellow Aussie Hannah Green came fourth.
But Lee was still able to collect a second seven-figure payday for the season courtesy of victory in the season-long Aon Risk Reward Challenge, which was won by Green last year, marking back-to-back Aussie victories.
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The pair will both now vie for a massive $2.2m winner’s cheque at the CME Group Tour Championship in Florida this week before both fly home to play the historic Australian Open, where the men’s and women’s events will be staged on the same course at the same time.
Lee, the world No.5, has already won more than $5.6m in 2022, while Green has collected $1.6m.
Green said the prospect of the huge cheque at the Tour Championship was “amazing”.
“I feel like we are definitely trending in the right direction with women’s golf,” the 2019 PGA champion said.
“And LPGA, we produce great product, so I feel like people want to invest in us and want to see us putting in the hard hours, actually earn a living.
“Obviously, with the purse increase and how much money the winner can take it’s an important event. Obviously, I just want to finish with a high and possibly a win.”