Min Woo Lee claimed his fourth professional title courtesy of a three-stroke victory at the Australian PGA Championship.
The 25-year-old, who recently secured a PGA Tour card for 2024, became the first DP World Tour champion of the new season on 20-under from Japan's Rikuya Hoshino after carding a final-round 68 at Royal Queensland Golf Club.
While LIV Golf's Cameron Smith missed the cut by a considerable distance on Friday, several other big names were also left trailing in Lee's wake despite playing the weekend - including former Masters champion Adam Scott and Smith's LIV Golf peers Marc Leishman and Joaquin Niemann.
Smith had won the Australian PGA Championship three times in the past five years while Scott and Jediah Morgan completed the recent sequence of home victors.
Min Woo Lee started and ended the final day's play with a three-shot advantage, but the action in between was predictably entertaining from one of golf's modern-day showmen.
Winner of October's Macau Open on the Asian Tour, Lee set nerves jangling following a bogey on the first hole, but birdies on the fourth, sixth, and seventh recovered his more comfortable position at the top of the leaderboard.
A sublime chip-in for eagle on the ninth stretched the Australian's advantage to four, and the gap remained so at the end of a tumultuous run between the 10th and 15th holes as Hoshino chained six consecutive pars together coming home. Lee bogeyed the 10th and 14th, but gained a shot back at both the 12th and 15th to maintain his momentum.
An eagle chip-in worthy of winning any title 🤩@Minwoo27Lee | #AusPGApic.twitter.com/kPn03RioFTNovember 26, 2023
Prior to standing on the 18th tee with a four-stroke lead in his pocket, Lee had donned a chef's hat - a nod to his love of 'cooking' out on the golf course - and led the jubilant crowd in a Viking clap on the 17th green.
Although Lee was desperately unlucky to miss with a par putt on the last, he ultimately signed for a three-under final round to end a two-and-a-half-year wait for another DP World Tour title following his victory at the 2021 Scottish Open. Hoshino matched Lee’s three under par 68 to take second place on 17 under as he recorded his highest career finish on the DP World Tour.
The moment @minwoo27 claimed his third DP World Tour title 😍#AusPGA pic.twitter.com/SCuqvUWNW2November 26, 2023
Speaking post-round, Lee said: “Unbelievable. 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, I’m really proud of my team and myself. I made it interesting early on and through the middle, but ended up hanging on, so I’m really proud.
“Rikuya is a really good player and he just kept knocking on the door, but it was exactly the same as my last win. Just the playing part, I just kept coming, so I knew I just needed to keep playing well and do my thing and I did. I’m really proud the way I made some up and downs and some putts.
“(On 9) I think that was probably the best atmosphere shot I’ve ever hit. I’ve had a few chip-ins, but 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, it was amazing. It was probably one of the best shots I’ve ever hit.”
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A proud moment for @Minwoo27Lee and his family.💙#AusPGA pic.twitter.com/8U1nG4wVnbNovember 26, 2023
2023 Australian PGA Championship Leaderboard
- 1st - Min Woo Lee (-20)
- 2nd - Rikuya Hoshino (-17)
- 3rd - Marc Leishman (-16)
- 4th - Curtis Luck (-15)
- 5th - Joaquin Niemann (-13)
- 6th - Adam Scott (-12)
