On Sunday night, LPGA star Minjee Lee was on a plane emphatically watching the final round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open, causing a few curious glances from the person sitting next to her.
That’s because her brother, Min Woo Lee, was on his way to winning his maiden PGA Tour title.
“Was a different experience,” Minjee said Tuesday during her pre-tournament presser at the LPGA’s T-Mobile Match Play in Las Vegas. “I’ve not watched golf on a plane before. It was first time for everything. It was quite fun. I really enjoyed it.”
Even though she almost missed the most crucial moment.
“Just before his like final putt from off the green, it kind of cut out then and I was like ‘oh, my God,’” Minjee said. “But I was like, I just refreshed it and it worked again.”
With his one-stroke victory over Scottie Scheffler and Gary Woodland, Min Woo and Minjee, both from Australia, became the third brother and sister duo to win on both the PGA Tour and LPGA, along with Cathy and Billy Kratzert and Jackie and Jim Gallagher Jr.
“I think it's such a great honor and it’s just—only the third siblings to win on both the tours,” Minjee said, “so I think it's just super cool and something we can tell the kids, grandkids. So we’ll always have that.”
The winning moment for @MinWoo27Lee was all-time 😂 pic.twitter.com/p5F2lGj8Ln
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 30, 2025
After Min Woo sank the final putt, he and Minjee spoke briefly.
“He did like a family FaceTime, so it was after—I think he was walking to the presentation, so pretty much like straight after,” she said.
She later added: “We all cheered and said congratulations. It was a really quick FaceTime; then we FaceTimed the day after. But, yeah, no, it was a real quick congrats and good-bye.”
Minjee, 28, said that her relationship with Min Woo, 26, isn’t really “golfy.” However, Min Woo believes his sister might have the edge on the course, except in the tee box.
“My sister and I, I think if we play from the same tees I’ll smoke her because I hit it very far,” said Min Woo, who is third on Tour in driving distance (316 yards). “But if she played from her tees and I played from mine, it would be pretty close. I think she’s got the long putter in now so she can putt and she’s doing really good over the last couple months putting. Over the long run I think she might beat me. She’s a robot. She probably would have hit 19 fairways out of 18 fairways today because she’s a robot. She’s very straightforward and she's very—she controls the ball so well. Over time she’ll probably win, but if there was a little short sprint, I might win.”
Minjee has nine more tour wins than her brother, with two major titles (2021 Evian Championship and 2022 U.S. Women’s Open). But she doesn’t feel he needs any advice from her.
“I think he did everything that he could in his control,” she said. “So very proud of the way he conducted himself.”
To keep the good luck rolling, though, maybe Min Woo should hop on a plane the next time his sister is in contention.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Minjee Lee Almost Missed Brother Min Woo’s Winning Moment at Houston Open.
