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<\/p>\nLewis Hamilton, the seven-time Formula 1 world champion, posed what seemed a simple enough question to Min Woo Lee.<\/p>\n
The unlikely duo were playing golf together in a video for a shared sponsor, posted online to Lee\u2019s 975,000 Instagram followers in the days before the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.<\/p>\n
Hamilton, the winningest driver in F1 history with a record 106 grand prix wins, wanted to know how Lee moved on from mistakes during high-pressure rounds. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s something I am trying to get better at,\u201d was Lee\u2019s response.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last week Lee climbed to 24 on the world rankings after finishing second at the Scottish Open, a performance he said was only possible because his mental game was just as on point as his ball striking. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the sort of adjustment that makes the 27-year-old, playing his 21st consecutive major, not just the leading Australian hope at Birkdale this week but a player who could defy his 50-1 odds and record a victory fellow Aussie Cameron Smith was quietly confident about. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI like our chances this week,\u201d Smith said under questioning from hopeful Australian media at Birkdale about the drought of major success among his fellow Aussies.<\/p>\n
Smith, the 2022 Open champion, is rated 126-1 by the same oddsmakers. That\u2019s probably fair given he\u2019s only made one cut in his past eight major starts. That cut did end up a tie for seventh at the PGA.<\/p>\n
Adam Scott is between Smith and Lee on the bookies sheets, at 100-1, in his 101st straight major. Having racked up his personal milestone of a century of majors at the US Open, Scott\u2019s hopeful his singular focus on winning this time could be a boon to his own chances.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a nice week, but it\u2019s kind of a fresh start now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can move beyond 100 now and keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Adam Scott has put his major milestone behind him. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to raise expectations for the remaining Australians in the field, although none could be ruled out. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Jason Day has had to limit his practice holes to manage a back issue, as reported by Golf Australia Magazine\u2019s Callum Hill.<\/p>\n
Lucas Herbert hasn\u2019t played anywhere since he missed the cut at the US Open last month and was struggling with the need to curb his thirst for distance at Birkdale where subtlety and strategy looks set to win out. \u00a0<\/p>\n
A long way down the order of expectation, Travis Smyth, at his second Open, and Cam John, playing his first, and his first major, would present as the ultimate surprise packets should they get to the top of the leaderboard.<\/p>\n
But in Lee, on the back of a new steely mental approach, which he walked away from the Renaissance Club in Scotland more satisfied with than just his golf, there is real hope beyond what the bookmakers expect. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt really comfortable, I didn\u2019t get too wound up in the moment,\u201d Lee said of being in contention last Sunday in Scotland, marking the improvement he told Hamilton he needed to make.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just felt like I was playing golf at home, not letting the situation get me nervous.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course you get a little nervous, but I felt like I went through the processes really good. That was the best I\u2019ve done, mentally, which was great. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully I can bring it into this week and majors going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Min Woo Lee was locked on in Scotland last week. (Photo by Andrew Redington\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Lee is striking at just over 50 per cent for cuts made against majors played. He\u2019s played 20, made 11 cuts, with a tie for fifth at the 2023 US Open his best result. \u00a0<\/p>\n
At his 21st major, Lee has enough scar tissue to understand what the best players repeatedly talk about.<\/p>\n
Majors are won as much with patience as power, by navigating more than just four rounds of 18 holes, learnings which have Lee in the best place to elevate into the elite.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a week where everything is heightened, emotions are heightened, and you feel like you want to practice more, do everything a lot more, which is not the best sometimes,\u201d he said of major weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just get so excited, it\u2019s one of the best weeks of the year, and there\u2019s four of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Open is one of the favourite ones to come to, and it\u2019s a while different type of golf.\u201d<\/p>\n
But not so different as last week when it comes to conditions at Birkdale, baked hard and fast, which looms as another positive factor for a big showing from Lee. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s something to do with the firm turf,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m somewhat of a steep player, so being steep into this grass is not so bad, it just kind of bounces out instead of soft American courses, it slides through and takes big divots.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t want that, especially under pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast week was good technically and hopefully it keeps going this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
The question Hamilton asked was answered last week, Lee\u2019s metal strength developing to match his powerful game.<\/p>\n
If that lesson survives another week on links golf’s biggest stage, Smith could be right, and Australia’s best chance of ending its major drought may already have arrived.<\/p>\n
\n \u00a9 Golf Australia. All rights reserved.
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