A day after her showman sibling Min Woo fired a blazing back-nine 28 on the PGA Tour to briefly claim family bragging rights, Lee matched his incredible eight-under-par stretch to set up a thrilling Sunday shootout in China between some of the biggest names in women's golf.
Lee's third-round seven-under 65 at Qizhong Garden Golf Club left Australia's three-time major champion just two shots off the lead entering the final round of the opening event of the LPGA Tour's all-important Asian swing.
"I had a little bit of a slow start, so it's nice to reel off some birdies in the middle there and end up with a nice score to be contending for tomorrow. Happy how I played today," Lee said.
Such a winning scenario seemed unlikely after Lee dropped her first shot of the tournament at the first hole on Saturday to find herself six strokes off the pace.
She was still half a dozen back before finding her first birdie of the round - and only second in 25 holes - at the par-4 fifth.
Then the world No.4 burst into life, following up with five consecutive birdies from the seventh to the 11th holes, then adding two more on 13 and 14 to grab a share of the lead.
Lee followed up her only "oh shit" bogey moment - when she was forced to remove her shoes after cruelly landing up the lip of a bunker on the gettable par-5 17th - with a stylish birdie at the last hole.
The West Australian's day of theatrics leaves Lee entering the final round two shots behind Japanese leader Minami Katsu in a tie for second with Thai world No.1 Jeeno Thitikul.
Thitikul had five birdies of her own in the last 11 holes to shoot a Saturday 66 to join Lee at 15 under, one shot ahead of South Korean Somi Lee (67) and American Jenny Bae (68).
Chasing a maiden LPGA Tour victory, Katsu recovered from a mid-round wobble to shoot a third-round 68 and move to 17 under for the championship.
In an intriguing, high-stakes sub-plot, Thitikul and Lee share second spot while battling it out for a raft of major season awards, not least 2025 player of the year honours.
Thitikul enjoys a narrow lead over Lee in the race for player of the year, but a win on Sunday would vault the Australian into the box seat ahead of next month's 60-player Tour Championship in Florida.
"There is still a lot of holes to be played and it's a pretty stacked leaderboard at the moment so I'm just going to try and have fun," Lee said.
"It's just super hot this whole week and I'm sure it'll be really hot tomorrow.
"So I'm just trying to keep as cool as possible out there. Just going to try and enjoy myself as much as I can and try and try and post a good score."
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