Min Woo Lee of Australia reacts to his attempt for birdie on the 17th green during the third round of THE PLAYERS Championship on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 11, 2023 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Min Woo Lee is trying to catch up to his sister, Minjee, who has already won two majors on the LPGA Tour. On Saturday, he shot 6-under 66 at TPC Sawgrass to improve to 12 under for the week and just two strokes behind leader Scottie Scheffler.
The 24-year-old Australian carded a final-round 66 at the Honda Classic that propelled him into the field at the Players without a shot to spare as No. 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking at the cut off that Sunday.
“It would have been guttering to come 51st in the ranking and not get in,” he said. “I think it ended up being one eighth of a shot with the ranking points. Things did favor in my way, and you got to make the most of it.”
Has he ever. Lee’s round started with a bang. He holed out from 112 yards for eagle on the first hole.
“I thinned a nice 55 (degree wedge) in there and one-hopped and back-spun in the hole. So it wasn’t a perfect shot but it looked good on TV,” he said, joking later, “I won’t say I thinned it; keep it between us.”
Lee blistered the front to the tune of 5-under 31. He added back-to-back birdies at Nos. 11 and 12 and only a bogey at 18 when he lipped out a 6-foot putt, which spoiled an otherwise clean card on Saturday.
Lee, who won the 2021 Scottish Open on the DP World Tour, plays most of his golf on that circuit but is motivated to make a name for himself in America. He is attempting to become just the third player in tournament history to make the Players his first Tour victory.
“I don’t think people that play over on the DP World Tour are surprised to see him in contention in any event,” Tommy Fleetwood said. “But, yeah, he’s obviously clearly got a bright future ahead of him.”
“He doesn’t have a weakness,” said Aaron Rai. “I think he’s going to be a star out here on the PGA Tour in the coming years.
He quickly is becoming a fan favorite this week and had fans chanting his name as he walked to the 17th and 18th greens.
“Hearing the crowd chant, that’s all I’m asking for,” he said. “Yeah, just had a lot of fun today. Did a lot of the right things, and hopefully I can do it again tomorrow.”