The 25-year-old, who has been out in front since round two, held off an early charge from Rikuya Hoshino that had them tied after two holes but quickly found his stride, almost recording an ace at the fourth and chipping in for eagle at the ninth on his way to a three under 68 at Royal Queensland GC.

Standing up to the pressure of holding the overnight lead, Lee delighted the home crowds and was surrounded by friends and family as he tapped in for a final hole bogey to secure the Joe Kirkwood Cup and finish his week on 20 under par.

The moment @minwoo27 claimed his third DP World Tour title ?#AusPGA pic.twitter.com/SCuqvUWNW2

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 26, 2023

“Yeah, unbelievable,” said Lee, who follows Nathan Holman (2016), Cam Smith (2018, 19 and 22) and Adam Scott (2019) as the fourth Australian winner of this event since it was first played on the DP World Tour’s Global Schedule in 2016.

“I’ve always thought I could win, but it took a while to get over the hump, but two wins in the last month or so. Yeah, I’m really proud of my team and myself and yeah, I made it interesting early on and through the middle, but ended up hanging on, so I’m really proud.

“I know Rikuya is a really good player and he kept knocking on the door, but it was the exactly same as my last win, just the playing point. I just kept coming, so I knew I just needed to keep playing well and do my thing and I did. Yeah, I’m really proud of the way I made some up and downs and some putts.”

In the end it was a dominant victory for the home favourite, but his round began with an opening mistake that opened the door for Hoshino.

His par putt at the first leaked right to start his day with a bogey, and Hoshino’s own birdie at that hole immediately reduced Lee’s advantage to just one.

A second birdie in a row for the Japanese star at the second meant Lee’s three-shot overnight advantage had evaporated within half an hour, but the Australian was quick to respond from there.

Two holes later, Lee nearly aced the par four fourth hole, kick-starting a run of gains that included birdies at the sixth and eighth before he chipped in at the turn to a raucous applause from the fans – a shot Lee said was one of the best he’s ever hit.

“I think that was probably the best atmosphere shot I’ve ever hit,” he said afterwards.

CHIP IN FOR EAGLE! ?@Minwoo27Lee takes a 4 shot lead to the back nine.#AusPGA pic.twitter.com/kPn03RioFT

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 26, 2023

“I’ve had a few chip ins, but that one was, at that point it was getting close and I was in a pretty average position off the tee shot after the tee shot, so to chip that in and it was amazing. I wish, I want to see it straight away. I would like to see it. It was one of the best shots I’ve probably hit.”

A dropped shot at the next brought Lee’s advantage back to three, but he then produced a similar chip a few holes later at the par four 12th after finding himself by a tree. Pitched to perfection to the back-right pin, he was able to see in another birdie to regain a four-stroke buffer.

A third bogey of the day at the 13th was followed by another expertly judged shot with his wedge, pitching his third shot from just short of the green on the par-five 14th hole to tap in distance.

With a now comfortable lead, Lee saw in a tester to save par at the 17th party hole and then engaged with a delighted home crowd, donning a chef’s hat to go with his now infamous ‘let him cook’ phrase and leading a thunderclap for a second day in a row.

Somewhat of a procession down the last with his entire family watching on, Lee missed the green with his approach and was unable to get up and down from the sand, but easily tapped in for a final hole bogey for his second success on home soil, following on from his 2020 ISPS HANDA Vic Open triumph.

It’s his second victory in a month, having earned his third professional victory at the Macao Open on the Asian Tour in October, and ends a wait of two years and 138 days since his last win at the 2021 Scottish Open on the DP World Tour.

Hoshino parred his way in from the 12th to secure second place and his highest ever position on the DP World Tour, with Australian Marc Leishman one further back thanks to an impressive seven-under 64 on the final day.

Lee and Hoshino’s playing partner Curtis Luck finished in solo fourth, with Joaquin Niemann in fifth thanks to an ace at the fourth hole, and two-time champion Adam Scott in seventh.

Image: DP World Tour Twitter / X

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Decades past have seen relatives shine in their mutual sports, harnessing talent, fulfilling potential, firmly establishing themselves as household names forever engrained in the nation’s sporting folklore.

The Ella brothers, Mark and Glen, made a significant impact on the rugby union scene in the 1980s. They represented the Wallabies for years, with younger sibling Gary following their footsteps soon after. In the 1990s, the Waugh twins, Mark and Steve, excelled in first-class cricket, becoming key members of the 1999 Cricket World Cup-winning side.

The Rio 2016 Summer Olympics were also a scene of special significance. Seven sets of Australian siblings competed on the grandest stage in Brazil, where the Campbell combination of Cate and Bronte won gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay.

Other notable families include the Abletts in Aussie Rules, the Konrads in swimming, and the Reddys in rugby league. All made their mark in Australia’s history books.

Right now in the present, another family is honouring this proud and enduring sporting tradition synonymous with Down Under: Minjee Lee and her brother, Min Woo. Hailing from Perth, both are professional golfers. The two are flourishing on their respective tours, flying the flag for family and country.

In fact, few stories in the world of golf are as inspiring and fascinating as theirs. Best friends with an unbreakable bond, Minjee credits a large portion of her success to her brother — who secured his third professional win just a fortnight ago, adding the Macao Open to his two European Tour titles.

Min Woo Lee. Asian Tour

Minjee, the women’s world No. 4 and two-time major champion, elaborated on their relationship at the Aramco Team Series — Riyadh.

“Whenever I see him, I feel like it’s a little bit more motivation for me to step up my game and perform as best as I can,” Minjee said.

“I think Min Woo has a bit more of a rivalry with me than I do him, but I’ll always be his biggest supporter and I know he’s mine as well. It’s always nice to see your family do well.

“I’m grateful that we’re both living our dream and playing the sport we love professionally all around the world. Things are great for both of us right now and we’re very happy with how our careers are continuing to develop.”

Minjee ensured that October 2023 will never be forgotten in the Lee family. Exactly one week after Min Woo won the Asian Tour event in China, she secured victory at the prestigious BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea.

She showed outstanding determination to overcome America’s Alison Lee in a play-off, sinking a birdie putt on the first extra hole for a second win in consecutive months. Weeks earlier in September, she won the Kroger Queen City Championship in Ohio.

Her recent run of form means she takes to the greens and fairways at Riyadh Golf Club as a favourite for the event’s individual competition, as well as a source of hope and inspiration for her teammates in the team format.

“I’m feeling good with my game and I’ve come to Riyadh high in confidence,” she added.

Main image: ATS/LET

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The tournament’s marquee player, ranked No. 46 in the world, hit crushing drives and holed putt after putt to card an eight-under-par 63 for an astonishing four-round aggregate of 30-under — a new tournament record and two short of the Asian Tour record, although preferred lies were played on the first two days.

Thailand’s Poom Saksansin also fired a 63, like Lee bogey-free, and finished second after a fascinating final day duel between the big-hitting Australian and the tenacious Thai golfer, hoping to replicate one of his giant-killing acts of the past.

Lee started the day with a two-shot lead over Poom and the margin was the same at the turn after both players pulled away from the field playing brilliant golf with four birdies apiece.

The turning point proved to be the par-five 13th, where Lee opened up a four-stroke cushion after he made an eagle, for the second day in row, against Poom’s par.

A wild drive a long way left on the short par-four 15th by Lee gave Poom a glimmer of hope, but his ball stayed away from trouble. He had a clear shot to the green and was able to avert disaster and make a comfortable par.

Predictably Poom refused to submit and made birdies on the next two holes to close the gap to two before they both made four on the par-five 18th.

“I love it,” said 25-year-old Lee, who opened with rounds of 62, 64 and 65. “As soon as the week started I had a couple of days rest because of the typhoon, and the course was looking amazing from the beginning. Obviously, it was pretty bad for a couple of days there, so it was props to the green keepers for keeping the course in such good condition.

“And yeah, I played wonderful, really flawless golf for a lot of the holes, there was only a few holes that I could really look back on. But yeah, I’m really proud of the way I handled myself.”

Lee’s score smashed the event’s previous lowest winning total of 20-under, set by Australian Scott Hend in 2015 and was just two short of the Asian Tour record, which Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat set at the Sail Open in 2009, at the Classic Golf and Country Club in India, when he finished 32-under-par.

Said Lee, who only had two bogeys all week and earned a cheque for $180,000: “Poom played unbelievable today. He never left, he just stayed around. I tried my best and ended up on top, but he was giving it to me for the whole time.”

It is his first victory since claiming the Scottish Open in July of 2021 and while he was winning in Macau, his sister and two-time Major winner Minjee Lee tied for 12th in the Buick LPGA Shanghai.

Main image: Asian Tour

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Poom fired an equally impressive 64 at Macau Golf and Country Club, with Korea’s Jaewoong Eom two back following a 65, thanks to a brilliant eagle on 18.

New Zealand’s Ben Campbell (68) and Meenwhee Kim (69) from Korea are four strokes further adrift.

Playing aggressively and with supreme confidence, 25-year-old Lee, brother of LPGA Tour star Minjee Lee, made an eagle, five birdies and one bogey — which was only his second dropped shot of the week — to put himself in position to win for the first time in two years and claim his maiden Asian Tour title.

He was pushed all the way by playing partner Poom, who in typical Poom fashion drew level with him on the back nine and refused to capitulate.

The diminutive 30-year-old birdied four in a row from the seventh to catch his Australian opponent before Poom handed the lead back when he dropped a shot on 12. Lee went two ahead after a superb eagle on the par-five 13th, where he hit his second to 10 feet and holed out, before a birdie on 15 put him three in front. However, Poom rallied and birdied the last two holes, while Lee also made birdie on 18.

Lee will have his work cut out for him on Sunday as Poom won the Yeangder TPC three weeks ago for his first victory in five years and is known for being a ferocious competitor and giant-killer.

He famously beat England’s Paul Casey in the singles at the 2018 EurAsia Cup and combined with Korean Sunghoon Kang to defeat Henrik Stenson and Alex Levy in a four-ball match 5&4.

And later that year he won the Indonesian Masters for the second time, upstaging the tournament’s two big name players Justin Rose from England and Stenson.

He is also a renowned strong frontrunner having won all four of his Asian Tour titles having led going into the final.

“You know, all the boys that I was playing with they were going pretty hard, so I knew I needed to just keep my composure and the back nine was really good,” said Lee.

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His 16-under-par total at Macau Golf and Country Club is the lowest two-round total in the event and was fuelled by 15 birdies and an eagle.

Poom Saksansin is in second place, his purple patch continuing as he carded a 62, while Korean Jaewoong Eom, also enjoying a good run of form, is third, four off the lead, following a 65, with compatriot Meenwhee Kim, who fired a 66.

Lee barely put a foot wrong again in his debut appearance in a full-field event on the Asian Tour.

He began the day sharing top spot with Scotsman David Drysdale but accelerated away from the pack with five birdies on the front, and two on the back.

“Flawless golf today,” said Lee, who missed numerous birdie opportunities including a four-footer on the last.

“I played really good, didn’t get myself in too much trouble and the last two days have been probably the lowest two days I’ve ever played. So, it’s been fun.”

He is attempting to win his first title in two years, with the most recent being the Scottish Open in 2021.

At the start of the week, he warned that he’s playing well and that his game is trending in the right direction – something very evident by the fact he has an impressive total of eight top-15 finishes this season with a best finish of joint second – and he has been true to his word, dropping just one shot over the two days.

He added: “I feel like I have really good control over the ball, and I’ve been putting well, so if the drives are still on, I think I’m gonna try go low again. I haven’t tried to play passive, I’ve just been trying to play aggressive and it’s nice to make a lot of birdies.”

The previous lowest score after two days had been Australian David Gleeson’s total of 14 under back in 2008.

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India’s Ajeetesh Sandhu, joint second here in 2017 when the event was last played, Ian Snyman from South Africa and Ben Campbell from New Zealand, also went low, carding 63s.

Phachara Khongwatmai from Thailand and Korean Meenwhee Kim returned 64s in the $1 million event, that is the 18th event of the season on the Asian Tour.

Lee is the highest ranked player in the field in 46th place on the Official World Golf Ranking and proved that today, firing an eagle, eight birdies and one bogey, which came on his first hole, the 10th.

“A 62 anywhere is a really nice score,” said the 25-year-old from Perth, who is the younger brother of LPGA Tour star Minjee Lee.

“Especially on a course like this: it was tricky, and the wind got up. It was really nice to really drive it well and capitalise on those drives.

“There are a few holes you can hit driver and a few I didn’t just because we saw some stats from before indicating holes where not so many birdies are made. We were aggressive, smart, smart aggressive. It worked out pretty well. Drove on the fairway most of the time and had wedges in. It was an early start today, 4am wake up, so keen to get back to the room and have a snooze.”

Lee, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, was helped by playing with countryman Scott Hend and Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho, recent winner of the gold medal in the Asian Games.

He said: “It is one of the better groups I have had all year around. Taichi is around my age, and we can talk about anything and Hendy, I have known him since being a pro on the European Tour, so it’s been really good fun and we all made a lot of birdies.”

While Lee played his round in the morning Drysdale was in the afternoon session, starting on the first hole.

A flawless 62 from David Drysdale to tie the opening round lead with Minwoo Lee ?@vicky_drysdale #SJMMacaoOpen2023 #whereitsAT pic.twitter.com/OZvq84y5Ah

— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) October 12, 2023

He birdied the first two and made three-in-a-row from the sixth to make the turn in five under, before more gains on 10, 12, 14 and 15.

“I missed makeable birdie putts on the last three holes, including a 10-footer on the last,” said the 48-year-old, who played in Europe for over 20 years before successfully negotiating this year’s Asian Tour Qualifying School.

“However, I would have taken a 62 at the start of the day. I have shot 10-under before in a tournament. The first time I played the course was yesterday in the Pro-Am, and that was in a buggy!”

He is proving to be one of the leading ‘rookies’ of the season, especially after tying for third in the Mercuries Taiwan Masters last month.

Currently in 49th place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit he is looking for another good week, in order to secure a top-60 finish on the Merit list and keep his Tour card.

Sandhu missed the early part of the season due to a sore back but has gradually been returning to form, as he demonstrated today.

“I was injured for the first half of the year,” said the Indian, who has one win on his Asian Tour resume, the Yeangder TPC in 2017, as well as five runner-up finishes.

“It was nothing too serious, it looked like it could have been a back issue, but the spine is absolutely fine. It was more a ligament tear on the SI joint. I was just over-golfed. Last year, I played all the tournaments in India, chasing the Order of Merit, and on the Asian Tour. At the Saudi International [the first event this season] it just kind of gave up. I was out until May. Took a bit of time to get back into it but the game is in a good place. I was at home for two months, didn’t touch a club.”

Like Lee, and Campbell, he started on the back nine today and made an eagle, on the second, the same as Lee, and recorded seven birdies and a bogey.

He finished three shots behind compatriot Gaganjeet Bhullar here six years ago and feels his game is a match for the Macau course.

“This is a course where you cannot get ahead of yourself. You have to position yourself on every hole, and that suits my game a bit more, you have to be patient. You can’t overpower it in anyway,” he said.

“I think the course is playing easier than the past years. Usually, it is a lot firmer and faster, but it is a little bit softer because of the rain and the typhoon, so I think that is playing a little bit into our hands. It should firm up at the weekend with the sun being down and the wind picking up. Today was a lot easier than what I am used to here. Glad I was able to take advantage of it.”

Phachara had looked to be on course to easily better the nine under mark when he went to nine-under after 14, but surprisingly he pushed his tee shot out of bounds on the par-four 16th. His ball landed on the out of bounds line and unluckily he was forced to play his provisional. He signed for a double-bogey.

Main image: Min Woo Lee. Asian Tour

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Ask Australia’s Min Woo Lee how he got into the field at the $20 million Travelers Championship despite being a Special Temporary Member on the PGA Tour, and he’ll tell you it’s a funny story.

Lee originally planned to spend this week watching his sister Minjee, a two-time LPGA major winner, compete at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at New Jersey’s famed Baltusrol Golf Club. He was not in the field for Travelers, a designated event, and so it was a nicely timed week off. Those plans still looked firm Saturday night in Los Angeles, after the third round of the U.S. Open, when Lee was two under par and eight shots off the 54-hole lead.

That night, Min Woo got a text from Adam Scott, Lee’s countryman and childhood idol, with an offer to ride on the former World No.1’s private jet to Hartford, Connecticut. “I’m not in Travelers, sorry,” Lee responded, to which Scott had a pointed reply that Lee paraphrased: “Just finish in the top 10 then and you can come. Go get it done.”

Indeed, a top-10 finish at LACC would qualify Lee to start in the next PGA Tour event if not already in the field.

Inspired, Lee shot a bogey-free 67 in the final round to finish tied for fifth. It was his best result in a major championship and first top-10 on the PGA Tour. Sure enough, Lee and his caddie, Stu Davidson, hitched a ride on Scott’s plane.

A ride in Adam Scott’s private jet inspired tour pro’s impressive Sunday US Open finish. Mike Mulholland

“It was a really cool feeling for Adam to do that for me. He’s been a good mentor in my career,” Lee said of the 14-time PGA Tour winner. “I grew up watching him win the [2013] Masters and now he’s become a friend. It’s special.”

Lee has until the end of the season, which will include the autumn portion of the schedule after the FedEx Cup Playoffs, to earn at least the same non-member points as No. 125 in the standings to secure his PGA Tour card next season. With a T-6 at the Players Championship in March and the T-5 at the US Open, he’s well on track. Either way, the 24-year-old is feeling good about his attempt to transition from the DP World Tour, where he’s won twice, to the PGA Tour.

The native of Perth, Western Australia just wants to examine why he sometimes has a poor round within a big event that drops him out of contention, like a Saturday 74 at LACC when he was only three off the lead.

“I really have to dig deep on why the occasional bad round happens but my good golf is awesome I feel I can compete out here,” Lee said. “If I do the right things, experience will start to develop. I’ve only played in a handful of majors, so it’s nice to play well in the early stages of my career. I’m excited to play Travelers this week.”

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It can be difficult to ask a golfer if he’s “sad” about something, which is why it was so nice that Jon Rahm said it first.

“It’s too bad that this is the last edition of this tournament,” the World No. 2 said on Tuesday about the WGC-Dell Match Play. “I obviously love matchplay, so I’m hoping maybe it’s just a one-year deal and we get a matchplay event back on the schedule.”

Rahm has made it out of his group in three of his five Match Play attempts, and went as far as the final in 2017, when he lost 1 up to Dustin Johnson. He also holds a 4-3-1 Ryder Cup record that includes an iconic singles win against Tiger Woods in 2018, so it’s no surprise that he loves matchplay and looks forward to coming to Austin every year.

“As a player it’s just an opportunity to play kind of a different golf,” he said. “It’s really the only time throughout the year besides maybe the Ryder Cup where you’re playing truly against the person in front of you, which is much more relatable to every sport we play in the world … it’s a lot more aggressive. You see more birdies. You see a lot of things happen.”

Rahm is not alone. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who made his first WGC-Match Play final in 2021 before winning last year, called Austin one of his favorite places to come each year, and the Texas alum took a predictably plainspoken approach to the appeal of the format.

“I like the simplicity of it,” he said. “All you have to do is just go out there and try and beat the guy that’s in front of you and if you don’t, you lose, and if you beat him, you win.”

This is the final year of the WGC at Austin Country Club, and almost certainly the last event of the WGC era. Austin Country Club apparently asked the tour for more money, which was met with resistance at headquarters, and it wasn’t long before the situation deteriorated beyond repair. There is no matchplay event on the schedule for the 2024 season, and despite signs that the tour is looking to bring it back at a later date, there are currently no firm plans.

Billy Horschel shakes hands with Scottie Scheffler after winning 2 and 1 in the final of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in 2021. Michael Reaves

The Match Play started in 1999 at La Costa in Carlsbad, California, moved to Dove Mountain in Tucson in 2009, was played one year at Harding Park in San Francisco, and has been in Austin the last six years. It was a single-elimination event until going to a round-robin format in 2015.

“I would love to see there still be a matchplay event at some point,” Rickie Fowler said, explaining that he liked single elimination better than the current set-up. “Matchplay, other than what we see in team events, it’s fun. We obviously wouldn’t want it every week, just because of how volatile it is, and it’s not always the guy that’s playing the best that week .. but yeah, I love match play.”

Fowler points to his 6-and-5 victory against Phil Mickelson in the second round in 2011 as his fondest memory of the Match Play.

“Phil and I were a lot closer then because we spent a lot of time both playing practice rounds and games together, and it was fun to get the better of him that day,” he said, with a sly smile.

As to the why of matchplay’s appeal, for most of the players it came down to variety and for the chance to square off against a single opponent — which, in turn, allowed them to play in a slightly different way.

“When I play good, I make a lot of birdies, which is good for match play,” Min Woo Lee said. “Sometimes if your playing partner doesn’t hit a great shot, you had an advantage, but it is also nice stepping up on a tee and smoking a drive and putting the pressure on … I feel like it suits my game because it’s a pretty aggressive type of play.”

Victor Perez pointed out the way in which the format actually takes some of the conservative strategy out of play.

“I think matchplay sometimes pushes you to the edge because it’s very black or white, to where the equation is made up for you,” he said. “It’s either like, well, you hit it to six feet so I don’t need to play any kind of percentage or try to be smart or anything … I try to play more the shot and like man to man.”

The players who spoke on Tuesday were universal in their enjoyment of matchplay, but understood its drawbacks, both for the competitors and from a corporate angle. On the playing side, luck plays an enormous role in determining the winner — you can play great and lose, or play poorly and win — and a more consistent style of player won’t find it as easy to register a high finish. (The current format, as Rahm pointed out, can lead to some confusion, as when a player might have to face someone he already defeated in a playoff in order to advance.) On the corporate side, any format dictates a dwindling field over the weekend, which can lead to dead time on television and lower appeal for sponsors who count on big weekend fields for clients.

For these players, though, the good outweighed the bad, and there was a certain regret, with maybe even a tinge of melancholy, at the prospect of this tournament coming to an end. Rahm, remembering years when he played well but didn’t advance, and other years when he didn’t feel in top form but managed to beat those in front of him, summed up the strangeness and appeal of the format best.

“That’s the beauty of matchplay,” he said.

These golfers, and many others, hope to see it again.

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The 24-year-old was cruising along at five under when he got to the 15th tee, hit a drive, and immediately yelled: “OH MY GOD!” before buckling over. Was he shot? Did he eat some bad sushi? Did he pop his Achilles? Nope. “I just got a cramp,” he declared a moment later.

That was a big relief to Lee’s friends, family, and backers, but it also wasn’t the grittiest display from an athlete we’ve ever seen. Let’s just say, it’s probably best Min Woo pursued a career in golf, and not in, say, football. Anyway, here’s the clip that we can all laugh at now:

"Oh my god I just got a cramp." 

Leader Min Woo Lee is playing through pain on his back nine in Round 1. pic.twitter.com/EWeofKKz7g

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 9, 2023

“Yeah, it was a weird one because I had never experienced that before,” Lee told reporters at TPC Sawgrass after. “It was kind of a funny story. I thought I had — at the beginning of the week I thought I had an allergic reaction to the electrolytes I was having, and if you don’t have electrolytes you get cramps and then I got a cramp. Yeah, it put the puzzle pieces together, and that’s what happened.”

There you go, kids. Stay hydrated. And make sure you get plenty of electrolytes.

“I’ll get some treatment after this, and yeah, I just swung my driver, and at the end of it I kind of overextended my calf and wasn’t the best of timing, but I’m happy to get it done, and I didn’t actually hit it that bad with the cramp,” the two-time DP World Tour winner continued. “Thankful the physio came out and helped me out there.”

Lee’s drive wound up traveling 299 yards and splitting the fairway so maybe it was a pretty gritty effort after all. He parred the hole, birdied 16, but finished with back-to-back bogeys. And then had to see stuff like this on social media:

Not ideal for our golfers-are-athletes position. Not ideal indeed. https://t.co/hCUu9WAskv

— Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) March 9, 2023

Live look at me getting out of the early morning jogs that my coworkers invite me on
pic.twitter.com/zL3KqNVHCw

— claire rogers (@kclairerogers) March 9, 2023

Prayers for Min Woo Lee after this cramp ?

pic.twitter.com/zCvsEfR0gM

— Tour Golf (@TuorGolf) March 9, 2023

Tough crowd. But it appeared Min Woo has seen the social media mocking — and has joined the fun:

Nah, i’m not an athlete ? #PickleJuice https://t.co/VT308T7mvq

— Min Woo Lee (@Minwoo27Lee) March 9, 2023

Well played, Min Woo. Well played.

The post Players 2023: Tour pro nearly goes down with leg cramp, Golf Twitter has a field day appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The event is being played alongside the Women’s Australian Open at the same time and at the same venues, putting Australian golf on the world stage for two consecutive weeks with Australian PGA Championship staged at Royal Queensland last week, where Cameron Smith thrilled the Brisbane crown with a three-stroke victory.

Victoria Golf Club is the primary host venue across all four days of the tournament and Kingston Heath Golf Club is set to host play on Thursday and Friday.

Two-time DP World Tour winner Min Woo comes into the event on the back of a top-five finish in the season-opening Australian PGA Championship and will hope playing again in front of home fans will inspire him to another strong showing.

World No. 4 Minjee, who won her second major earlier this year, has never won the Women’s Australian Open despite being in contention on numerous occasions in eight attempts, with a best finish of third at Royal Adelaide in 2017.

Meanwhile, home favourite Lucas Herbert is determined to overcome a back injury that forced the 26-year-old to withdraw from last week’s Australian PGA. With some time off over the festive period to come, Herbert was determined to play to maintain some momentum as he looks to move up from 57th into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking and earn a place at the Masters Tournament.

Major winners Adam Scott, Karrie Webb and Ashleigh Buhai are also in the field, while Ryan Fox will hope to end a hugely successful 2022 in style after missing the cut last week at Royal Queensland following a hectic journey from the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

“Just to see the fam I think is a special thing,” said Min Woo. “We don’t get to see each other that much, so just to put the band together, it’s pretty cool. We don’t get to do it that often, so it is very cool. Then we can spend Christmas together, so I think with the schedule and all that, it works really well. It brings everyone together, which is awesome, and what we want and what we need. Especially in Australia, playing in front of the home crowd. It was special last week and I‘m sure this week will be even better.

“I think for both of us we’ve had very good years, so to look back and just give this one a hot crack. It doesn’t really matter how it goes, we’re obviously really happy with the way everything’s gone this year and we’re looking for a rest, but this is obviously a really big event in the schedule and we want to do well in our home event. We’re looking forward to it. We may be tired but I think we’re looking forward to how the week goes.”

Minjee added: “I mean it’s pretty cool to be able to play with the men and also the All Abilities tournament that’s going on all at the same time. Obviously playing with Min Woo and being able to see him is really special to me. Just being back in Australia I think is really cool. I haven’t played in a couple of years back home, so I think it’s going to be a great turnout and I’m looking forward to seeing all the fans come out and maybe a lot of little kids here and there. I think it will be really fun.

“I think the Australian Open, your national championship, is always really high on the list. For me, I always want to do well. The previous Aussie Opens that I have played, I think I haven’t quite shown that as much, so hopefully I can settle the nerves and just enjoy it and just play well for me and play well for the Australian crowd.”

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