Minjee Lee’s 2026 season is over, with the Australian opting out of The ANNIKA and ruling herself out of the LPGA’s season-ending Tour Championship for the first time in more than a decade.
The triple major champion will not play the penultimate event of the year, which starts on Thursday, leaving her no chance of climbing into next week’s US$11 million Tour Championship in Florida, AAP reported.
Lee has not missed the season-ending championship since 2014.
The 30-year-old from Western Australia has slipped from third in the world rankings in October last year to 24th, her equal-lowest standing in 11 years, and finished last at the Japan Classic on Sunday.
Battling swing issues, she sits 79th in the season-long points standings. Only the top 60 qualify for the Tour Championship in Naples from November 19-22.
Read more: Minjee Lee wins 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
A rare miss for Minjee Lee
Lee, an 11-time LPGA Tour winner, tied for 13th at last year’s Tour Championship. Her best finish in the event is a share of seventh on debut as a teenager in 2015.
Her three major titles came at the 2021 Evian Championship, the 2022 US Women’s Open and the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Australians still chasing a Tour Championship spot
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Hannah Green, safely placed 11th in the points race, is also sitting out The ANNIKA.
Four Australians will tee it up at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair hoping to secure a place in the Tour Championship: Cassie Porter (47th), Grace Kim (51st), Karis Davidson (54th) and Robyn Choi (61st).
Choi sits one spot outside the qualifying zone and likely needs a top-30 finish to earn her first Tour Championship start, according to AAP.
World No.1 Nelly Korda, who has already been named player of the year, is chasing a fourth win in the event.
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