By MIKE KERN
So, what’s the best thing you ever got for your birthday?
Well, whatever it was, it’s sure hard to top the gift that Min Lee gave to herself on June 2 at Raven’s Claw Golf Club in Pottstown.
As she was playing the 10th hole in the final round of the second annual 54-hold LPGA Symetra Tour’s Valley Forge Classic, the clock was striking midnight back home in her native Chinese Taipei. Which meant she had just turned 24 years old. And a few hours later, Lee was the champion after defeating Esther Lee on the first hole of a playoff.
“For the last couple of years, my experiences when I’ve played tournaments my birthday week … haven’t been very successful,” the winner said after taking the $18,750 first-place prize from the total $120,000 purse. “So it’s a great week for me. I think this kind of breaks that little record.”
Lee closed with a 5-under par 66 to finish at 15-under 198. She had missed a 6-foot birdie putt on 18 that would have ended things in regulation. On the first extra hole, back on 18, Lee needed only to two-putt from 12 feet for a par to secure the victory after her opponent found a greenside bunker on her approach and left herself a 20-footer coming out of the sand that she failed to convert.
It was Lee’s first win in the United States since her rookie season of 2014. She won twice last year in Asia.
After she three-putted for bogey at the 15th, Esther moved into a tie with a 12-foot bird at the next hole.
“I played a lot of good golf this week so that’s good news going forward,” said Esther, a four-time All-American from California. “A lot of positives come out of this.”
Perrine Delacour of France birdied three of the last four for a 67 to tie for thrd with Jenny Coleman, who finished fourth here in 2018 and played in the final group. She closed with a 68. Cheyenne Woods, Tiger’s niece, had seven birds on the last day for a 65 that moved her from 53rd to 15th.
Brittany Benvenuto of Langhorne, a Symetra regular, had a 74 for a 213. New Hope’s Kellie Edelblut closed with a 72 for 215.
But the moment belonged to Lee, whose mother (Tsui Fen Chung) followed her the entire way.
“I didn’t really expect anything,” said Lee, who carded four straight birdies in the middle of her third round. “Low expectations gives me a lot of good things. It’s definitely a lot of pressure. I’m not saying I’m not nervous, but obviously I am. I just believe that if I keep trying to do what I want to do, what I need to do, everything right will come with it. So I’m just waiting for that … I just followed what the golf gods give me.”
She said she didn’t look at any leaderboards until the 18th.
“Obviously I could see it (then),” Lee explained. “I want it when everybody plays really good but I play better (by) a little bit. I hope everybody enjoyed watching golf this week. I hope they have different golf shots this week after they watch us.
“It definitely gives me a lot of confidence that I’m able to do this, because I’ve been down for a long time so I don’t know. I’m just confirming I’m going in the right direction, so I’m just going to keep it going on this path.”
Maybe it’s one of those kind of presents that can continue giving.
