Can Minjee Lee end Aussie golfers’ winless drought at the 2024 ISPS Handa Australian Open?

The 2024 ISPS Handa Australian Open tees off on Thursday, November 28, and Australian Minjee Lee is the favorite to win the women’s segment. It is pertinent to note that no Australian woman has won the competition in the last 10 years. A win by Lee will end this drought.

The Australian Open, co-sanctioned by DP World Tour and Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, will see a number of popular Australian names, including Cameron Smith, Hannah Green, and Min Woo Lee scramble to win their respective national open.

While LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann leads the men’s odds list, Minjee Lee comes into the competition as the outright favorite in the women’s segment. According to Bet365, the 28-year-old LPGA star has 75-2 odds.

For the unversed, Lee became a three-time Olympian earlier this year. The Aussie golfer added it to a strong 2024 LPGA Tour campaign, which included five top-10 finishes. The two-time Major champion finished inside the top 20 on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings for the 10th straight year. It is pertinent to note that Lee finished runner-up to 2022 and 2023 champion Ashleigh Buhai in last year's competition.

Interestingly, Lee didn’t have the best of weeks coming into the competition. The LPGA star rolled into Kingston Heath on Wednesday afternoon. However, wild storm alerts in Melbourne shut down the Victoria Golf Club course as well as practice facilities. Owing to this, the ace golfer will begin the content this weekend with low practice rounds on the clock.

Minjee Lee said ahead of the Australian Open, as quoted by Fox Sports:

“I’ve always, because it’s my national title, I think I’ve put a little bit more added pressure just on myself to perform and have a good result. But sometimes it does work in my favor and sometimes it doesn’t. And I think more so than not, it has not worked in my favor. The last few years, I’ve just kind of come in with a little lower expectation and just try to have fun and embrace every moment on the golf course.”

Lee slid down to 17th in the world rankings after a “humbling” winless year. It’ll be interesting to see how the golfer fares at her home competition this weekend.

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2024 ISPS Handa Australian Open women’s odds

Apart from Minjee Lee, Hannah Green and Grace Kim are two other Australian golfers who could end the Aussies’ winless drought at the Australian Open. The LPGA stars come into the weekend with 85-2 and 70-1 odds, respectively.

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Listed below are the top odds for the Australian event (via Bet365):

• Minjee Lee (+375)
• Hannah Green (+425)
• Jiyai Shin (+650)
• Grace Kim (+700)
• Ashleigh Buhai (+850)
• Steph Kyriacou (+1100)
• Jenny Shin (+1200)
• Hee Jeong Lim (+2000)
• Cassie Porter (+2500)
• Momoka Kobori (+2800)

More details on the 2024 ISPS Handa Australian Open will be updated as the event progresses.