Minjee Lee wins ninth LPGA Tour title in playoff

Kroger Queen City Championship R4

Minjee Lee has won her ninth LPGA Tour victory at the Kroger Queen City Championship, fending off Englishwoman Charley Hull in a two-hole playoff.

Lee started into the day two shots ahead of Hull making it the eighth time in her career she has entered into the final round with the lead and sixth time she has won doing so.

Lee made back-to-back birdies on the 7th and 8th extending her lead and made the turn at three-under par. Brief trouble came into play after a failed attempt to hit the par-5 12th green in two shots turned into a double bogey that put her at 1-under. Hull, still three strokes behind Lee, birdied the 14th, 15th and 16th to tie the lead with two to play.

The Australian recorded pars on each of her last six holes to wrap up a one-under round, with a ten-foot par putt on the 18th hole that sent Lee and Hull into a playoff after the Englishwoman also parred her last two. They played the 18th hole twice more. With a near birdie from off the green by Hull, both players made a par on the first hole before heading back to the tee. Thanks to a close second shot on the second playoff hole, Lee knocked in her three-foot birdie putt to claim victory at Kenwood Country Club.

“I just hit pitching wedge and hit it three quarter and it was really — you can’t really predict how far it’s going to run so it was just a guesstimate. I just was like, oh, it’s probably going to run this much, so I just need to put it on a good line and it’ll probably just roll up there,” said the two-time major champion. “I was just really trusting that it was going to come out the way I thought it was going to come out and that it was going to roll all the way to the pin.”

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Hull now has five top-10 finishes and four runner-up results this season, two in major championship at the U.S. Women’s Open and AIG Women’s Open. With her strong momentum in the later half of this season, the two-time LPGA Tour champion looks to spend time at home before gearing up to participate on the European Solheim Cup team.

“I’m looking forward to Solheim. I’m looking forward to doing some work next week with my coach and just getting into it again and closing out the season. But I am, yeah, I’m looking forward to working hard this winter, and Solheim I’m looking forward to,” said Hull. “Suzann is going to be a great captain. She’s one of my favorite players ever to play the game, so it’s pretty cool. Wish she was on the team.”

Ruoning Yin closed with a 67 and finished third for the third event in a row and for the fourth time in her last five starts on the LPGA Tour. Yin, who became both a Rolex First Time Winner and first-time major champion this season, is now projected to move to No. 1 in the world. She becomes the second golfer from the People’s Republic of China to hold the title, joining 10-time LPGA Tour winner ShanShan Feng.

“It means a lot. For me it’s like dream come true,” said Yin. “I think I didn’t get a lot of chance to chat with Shanshan, but I’m looking forward to back to China and play the Asian Game and spend more time with her consider she’s the head coach on our National Team.

Last year’s inaugural champion Ally Ewing played a final round 66, shooting herself into a solo fourth place finish from T15.

Six additional players finished in a tie for 5th place, many of which also climbed the leaderboard on Sunday including England’s Mel Reid (66).

Pos.PlayerTo ParScoresTotal
1Minjee Lee-1667 - 69 - 65 - 71272
2Charley Hull-1667 - 68 - 68 - 69272
3Ruoning Yin-1468 - 66 - 73 - 67274
4Ally Ewing-1269 - 70 - 71 - 66276
T5Mel Reid-1171 - 69 - 71 - 66277
T5Mi Hyang Lee-1174 - 68 - 68 - 67277
T5Ariya Jutanugarn-1169 - 69 - 68 - 71277
T5Yuka Saso-1169 - 66 - 70 - 72277
T5Morgane Metraux-1168 - 66 - 70 - 73277
T5Peiyun Chien-1166 - 64 - 73 - 74277
T11Hye-Jin Choi-1067 - 72 - 71 - 68278
T11Cydney Clanton-1071 - 69 - 69 - 69278
T11Andrea Lee-1071 - 67 - 69 - 71278
T14Frida Kinhult-970 - 72 - 66 - 71279
T14Madelene Sagstrom-969 - 68 - 68 - 74279
T16Pavarisa Yoktuan-868 - 70 - 72 - 70280
T16Alexa Pano-873 - 66 - 70 - 71280
T16Nasa Hataoka-873 - 63 - 72 - 72280
T19Xiyu Lin-773 - 69 - 71 - 68281
T19Esther Henseleit-770 - 70 - 73 - 68281
T19Lexi Thompson-773 - 68 - 71 - 69281
T19Gaby Lopez-771 - 71 - 68 - 71281
T23Brooke M. Henderson-671 - 69 - 76 - 66282
T23Jenny Shin-670 - 72 - 73 - 67282
T23Hae Ran Ryu-667 - 75 - 73 - 67282
T23Dani Holmqvist-669 - 71 - 73 - 69282
T23Mariah Stackhouse-673 - 69 - 70 - 70282
T23Yealimi Noh-668 - 71 - 71 - 72282
T23Perrine Delacour-667 - 69 - 74 - 72282
T23Paula Reto-673 - 66 - 69 - 74282
T31Emily Kristine Pedersen-567 - 69 - 78 - 69283
T31Moriya Jutanugarn-569 - 73 - 70 - 71283
T31Elizabeth Szokol-566 - 71 - 75 - 71283
T31Jennifer Kupcho-569 - 70 - 72 - 72283
T31Rose Zhang-570 - 68 - 73 - 72283
T36Azahara Munoz-471 - 69 - 75 - 69284
T36Narin An-472 - 71 - 71 - 70284
T36Nanna Koerstz Madsen-470 - 70 - 72 - 72284
T36Gabriela Ruffels-469 - 69 - 74 - 72284
T36Hinako Shibuno-473 - 70 - 68 - 73284
T41Lauren Coughlin-370 - 72 - 75 - 68285
T41Stephanie Kyriacou-371 - 72 - 73 - 69285
T41Samantha Wagner-372 - 69 - 74 - 70285
T41Dana Fall-373 - 69 - 72 - 71285
T41Yuna Nishimura-372 - 69 - 73 - 71285
T41Pernilla Lindberg-370 - 71 - 73 - 71285
T41Linnea Strom-366 - 70 - 78 - 71285
T41Lydia Ko-368 - 73 - 72 - 72285
T49Maria Fassi-268 - 71 - 79 - 68286
T49Jasmine Suwannapura-274 - 69 - 73 - 70286
T49Stephanie Meadow-268 - 71 - 76 - 71286
T49Ruixin Liu-265 - 69 - 81 - 71286
T49Muni He-273 - 70 - 70 - 73286
T49Yan Liu-271 - 72 - 68 - 75286
T55Weiwei Zhang-171 - 71 - 75 - 70287
T55Sarah Kemp-172 - 71 - 73 - 71287
T55Linnea Johansson-168 - 74 - 73 - 72287
T55Arpichaya Yubol-171 - 70 - 74 - 72287
T55Dewi Weber-173 - 68 - 71 - 75287
60Sei Young KimPar75 - 68 - 73 - 72288
T61Dottie Ardina+166 - 74 - 80 - 69289
T61Jaravee Boonchant+170 - 73 - 75 - 71289
T61Jeongeun Lee5+172 - 70 - 76 - 71289
T61A Lim Kim+175 - 68 - 74 - 72289
T61Gina Kim+172 - 69 - 73 - 75289
T66Lauren Hartlage+269 - 73 - 78 - 70290
T66Brittany Altomare+269 - 74 - 76 - 71290
T66Christina Kim+270 - 71 - 75 - 74290
T66Angel Yin+271 - 71 - 72 - 76290
T70Sydnee Michaels+369 - 72 - 77 - 73291
T70Olivia Cowan+373 - 67 - 78 - 73291
T70Jennifer Song+370 - 72 - 75 - 74291
T73Yu Liu+474 - 69 - 76 - 73292
T73Mariajo Uribe+468 - 73 - 74 - 77292
T75Ines Laklalech+569 - 74 - 78 - 72293
T75Gabriella Then+569 - 73 - 75 - 76293
T75Bailey Tardy+569 - 73 - 74 - 77293
T75Pornanong Phatlum+570 - 73 - 72 - 78293
79Xiaowen Yin+672 - 71 - 80 - 71294
80Lindy Duncan+871 - 72 - 75 - 78296
CUTAllison EmreyPar75 - 69
CUTPajaree AnannarukarnPar74 - 70
CUTAshleigh BuhaiPar74 - 70
CUTMinami KatsuPar74 - 70
CUTAline KrauterPar74 - 70
CUTIlhee LeePar74 - 70
CUTBianca PagdangananPar73 - 71
CUTValery PlataPar73 - 71
CUTSarah SchmelzelPar73 - 71
CUTAllisen CorpuzPar72 - 72
CUTEllinor SudowPar72 - 72
CUTAnnie ParkPar71 - 73
CUTEmma TalleyPar71 - 73
CUTKelly TanPar71 - 73
CUTLauren StephensonPar69 - 75
CUTPauline Roussin+175 - 70
CUTLinn Grant+174 - 71
CUTJennifer Chang+173 - 72
CUTFaith Kilgore+173 - 72
CUTPolly Mack+173 - 72
CUTJing Yan+173 - 72
CUTAna Belac+172 - 73
CUTCaroline Inglis+172 - 73
CUTAmelia Lewis+171 - 74
CUTChanettee Wannasaen+171 - 74
CUTSung Hyun Park+170 - 75
CUTRiley Rennell+170 - 75
CUTMarina Alex+275 - 71
CUTJodi Ewart Shadoff+275 - 71
CUTYaeeun Hong+273 - 73
CUTHyo Joon Jang+273 - 73
CUTJeongeun Lee6+273 - 73
CUTWichanee Meechai+273 - 73
CUTSophia Schubert+273 - 73
CUTLuna Sobron Galmes+272 - 74
CUTBrianna Do+271 - 75
CUTGrace Kim+271 - 75
CUTHaru Nomura+372 - 75
CUTMaddie Szeryk+372 - 75
CUTYu-Sang Hou+478 - 70
CUTKaris Davidson+477 - 71
CUTAmanda Doherty+477 - 71
CUTCeline Herbin+477 - 71
CUTCheyenne Knight+475 - 73
CUTMina Harigae+474 - 74
CUTBronte Law+473 - 75
CUTMaria Torres+580 - 69
CUTMagdalena Simmermacher+575 - 74
CUTAmy Yang+575 - 74
CUTWei-Ling Hsu+573 - 76
CUTMia Hammond (a)+572 - 77
CUTLucy Li+572 - 77
CUTKiira Riihijarvi+572 - 77
CUTMarissa Steen+572 - 77
CUTSoo Bin Joo+571 - 78
CUTSofia Garcia+673 - 77
CUTSu Oh+776 - 75
CUTPaula Creamer+772 - 79
CUTCeline Borge+877 - 75
CUTBrittany Lincicome+875 - 77
CUTMatilda Castren+977 - 76
CUTWenbo Liu+977 - 76
CUTMin Lee+976 - 77
W/DAlbane Valenzuela75
Updated: September 11, 2023
Kroger Queen City Championship 2023
Date: 7th September - 10th September, 2023
Location: Kenwood Country Club, Cincinnati, Ohio
Purse: $2,000,000