It is where she joined the pantheon of major champions, but world No.6 Minjee Lee has revealed the other reason the Amundi Evian Championship holds a special place in her heart.

Lee returns to the Evian Resort Golf Club this week as one of nine Australians contesting the fourth women’s major of 2025 and does so on the back of a third major victory at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

It solidified Lee’s place as one of the true greats of Australian golf, a mantle that the 29-year-old is admittedly still coming to terms with herself.

Yet when she turned professional in 2014, that path appeared to be pre-ordained.

An exceptional talent who, at 15, became the youngest ever winner of the WA Amateur Open in 2010, Lee won the US Junior Girls Championship two years later.

The following year she ticked off the Australian Women’s Amateur crown, successfully defended it in 2014 and then assumed top spot in the World Amateur Golf Ranking by defeating a field of professionals at the 2014 Vic Open.

That September, Lee took the pro plunge at Evian (pictured, inset), surely one of few to do so in a major championship setting.

“I don’t know if anybody knows this, but that was my first event as a professional in 2014,” Lee revealed in an interview with Fox Sports, receiving a sponsor’s exemption as the world’s best amateur.

“I go back and I get all the feels from that, but also being an Evian champion is quite cool as well.

“It always just reminds me of how far I’ve come whenever I go there.”

Indeed, the seven years between her professional debut and a breakthrough major had begun to feel like an eternity.

There were five LPGA Tour wins during that time, each one bringing with it a growing expectation that a major would soon follow.

Yet the wait lingered, results in the sport’s showpiece events failing to match up with the unquestioned talent.

In 20 majors stretching across 2016-2019, Lee finished top 10 just twice. In the first three majors of 2021, she was tied 25th (Chevron), tied 54th (US Women’s Open) and tied 40th (KPMG Women’s PGA).

Entering the final round at Evian four years ago, Lee trailed by seven strokes, conjuring a comeback equal to the best ever seen in a women’s major to force a playoff and ultimately claim victory.

Lee returns this week having endured through an identity crisis that had her questioning her place in the game in recent years.

Perceived problems with the putter became such a hot topic of conversation externally that it seeped into Lee’s subconsciousness.

She and coach Ritchie Smith ultimately came to the understanding that trying a broomstick putter would at least shift the narrative. Seven months on, the result is a player feeling as mentally free as she did taking those first steps into the pro game 11 years ago.

“After the last few years, I kind of didn’t really think that I would get back into this position,” Lee conceded.

“Almost having low expectations or not really thinking about it too much frees you up a little bit more.

“I struggled with my putting for the last few years; people have touched on it here and there.

“Then it was kind of seeping through the other parts of my game and I think it probably just grinded a bit more on me as a person.

“I didn’t really find too much purpose or motivation during that time.

“Obviously if your career that is so much of your identity is not going so well, it’s going to be hard.

“I tried a lot of things, tried to grind it out, so I feel like all the good things have been happening now is because I grinded and just stuck to the things that I believed in the most.”

Lee has been drawn to play with fellow 2025 major champions Mao Saigo and Maja Stark for the first two rounds, teeing off in Round 1 at 4pm Thursday AEST.

Photos: Getty Images (inset); Philippe Millereau KMSP