Tag: 2023 Australian PGA Championship

Why Min Woo Lee rocked a chef hat to celebrate his 2023 Australian PGA Championship victory before he even won

Lee had an epic celebration with the crowd on the 17th green on Sunday.

While Americans across the country celebrate Thanksgiving weekend, Min Woo Lee enjoyed some home cooking in his native Australia.

The 25-year-old from Perth shot a 3-under 68 on Sunday to win the 2023 Fortinet Australian PGA Championship at 20 under Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane. Lee recently won the SJM Macao Open on the Asian Tour and last won on the DP World Tour at the 2021 Abrdn Scottish Open.

Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino (68) put up a fight but ultimately finished second at 17 under, with Aussies Marc Leishman (64) and Curtis Luck (69) in third and fourth at 16 under and 15 under, respectively. LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann (67) – who aced the par-3 4th hole – finished fifth at 13 under.

“I made it interesting early on and through the middle but I ended up hanging on and I’m really proud,” said Lee, who began the day with a bogey before he finished the front nine 5 under over his last six holes. Two birdies and three additional bogeys down the stretch were enough to hold off Hoshino.

One of the more outgoing characters in the game, Lee put on a chef’s hat on the 17th green to celebrate with fans and honor his “Let him cook” social media mantra that took off during the Players Championship. Imagine having that kind of confidence with a hole still to play. That’s Min Woo Lee.

Lee finished T-4 at last year’s Australian PGA, one of five top-10 finishes on the DP World Tour schedule in 2022-23 season. Over on the PGA Tour, Lee earned four top 10s in 14 starts in 2023, including a T-6 at the Players Championship and T-5 at the U.S. Open.

Check out the best photos of his wild celebration Down Under below.

Photos: Lee wins at home

Min Woo Lee takes commanding lead at Australian PGA Championship

Min Woo Lee is trying to run away and hide.

Min Woo Lee is trying to run away and hide.

The Australian carded a 5-under 66 for the second straight day, extending his lead to three shots at the 2023 Fortinet Australian PGA Championship. A win would be his third on the DP World Tour and one of the biggest in his young career.

“I again played pretty solid,” Lee said. “A couple of mistakes but that happens. But overall, pretty happy with the way I went today.”

For the third time in as many days, Lee birdied his opening hole at Royal Queensland and added another at the third. A pair of birdies and bogeys rounded out his front nine to turn in 2 under.

On the back, the 25-year-old added three more birdies to finish his day at 17 under, three shots in front of Rikuya Hoshino.

“It’s a course where you can shoot low, so you’re going to be aggressive no matter what,” Lee said. “There’s probably a couple of holes where you don’t need to hit driver where I did the last three days. It just all depends. It’s obviously score dependent, but I’m here because I played aggressive and I played the way that the game plan has been. So, hopefully I can just do the same.”

Lee is 45th in the Official World Golf Ranking, but his last victory on the DP World Tour came two years ago at the Scottish Open. Adding a third in his home country would be special.

“At the end of last week the season, technically ended but the year hasn’t ended and I wanted a win on the DP World Tour, so it was in the back of my mind and I wanted to win,” Lee said. “So yeah, it will be amazing. Any win’s awesome. I have the potential to win but I’ve only had three wins, so it’s not like it comes off. Any time you win it’s an amazing feeling.

“I mean yeah, again, tomorrow’s just another day and hopefully I can keep going. I can just control what I can do and if someone goes out there and shoots low, hopefully I’ve finished the day happy with the way I played.”

Curtis Luck is third at 13 under with Adam Scott, who played with Lee on Saturday, fourth at 11 under.