{"id":944846,"date":"2026-10-29T06:32:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T06:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/944846\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T06:32:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T06:32:15","slug":"a-big-deal-why-min-woo-lee-craves-aussie-open-glory-australian-golf-digest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/944846\/","title":{"rendered":"‘A big deal’: Why Min Woo Lee craves Aussie Open glory \u2013 Australian Golf Digest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the Rory McIlroy-Jordan Spieth blueprint, an inspired Min Woo Lee is hunting a breakthrough Australian Open triumph that can propel the Perth prodigy into 2027 major championship contention.<\/p>\n

Lee has returned home from a stellar PGA Tour season brimming with belief and already dreaming of lifting the Stonehaven Cup some five weeks out from his national championship in Melbourne from December 3-6.<\/p>\n

While he fell just short of capturing a second PGA Tour crown, the 28-year-old recorded two seconds, a third and a fourth in the season-ending Tour Championship among six top-10 finishes in 2026.<\/p>\n

\"Golf\"\/Min Woo Lee has enjoyed success in Australia including winning the 2023 Australian PGA Championship. (Jono Searle\/AAP PHOTOS<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Now the 2023 Australian PGA Championship winner hopes to complete a rare career double of the Australian summer majors in what he feels could prove a launching pad for next year\u2019s Masters, US Open, British Open and US PGA events.\u00a0<\/p>\n

McIlroy and Spieth both credit Australian Open victories in 2013 and 2015 respectively for helping the superstars each win two majors the ensuing year, and Lee knows what a confidence boost he too could gain from lifting the Stonehaven Cup at Kingston Heath.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big deal. We all want to win any tournament we play, but it just propels you into a great start to the next year,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we play great there, win a trophy there, it does give you a great mindset going into 2027, and (you are) a bit more freer and if we play freer, we all play good.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s definitely in everyone\u2019s head when they start the year. It\u2019s nice to have a good headspace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Golf\"\/Min Woo Lee continues to take on golf\u2019s biggest stages such as at this year\u2019s Presidents Cup. (AP PHOTO<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Lee had to withdraw from last week\u2019s Indian Open with back spasms and apparent \u2018Delhi belly\u2019 but injury and illness hasn\u2019t sapped his motivational levels one iota.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven when I should be shutting golf off completely, I\u2019m just thinking on the plane from India and coming back with what felt like a broken back \u2013 I couldn\u2019t really even go to my putting stand \u2013 but I had this motivation to win down in Australia and play good golf,\u201d said the world No.31.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the only thing this year that I really want to do and if I don\u2019t get it, fair enough, but just having that mindset switch of we\u2019re there to win. I\u2019m looking forward to next year already.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very keen to show what I\u2019ve got and I feel like I\u2019ve proven that I can hit shots when I need to. Let\u2019s just try to do it more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Already boasting five worldwide victories, Lee knows putting four rounds together remains the key to getting his hand on more trophies and at least contending on Sundays.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it all comes down to experience. It\u2019s a million dollar question. Everyone wants to do it, but it seems like I just have an off day of putting or off day of driving,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not that type of player to hit every shot perfect and this year has been a big learning curve. Although it hasn\u2019t been four rounds together, that one round hasn\u2019t been as bad.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been maybe a level par or one under instead of a five under, but it\u2019s not getting me out of contention that much, and I think the good results have come from that.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo another year under my belt of doing that will help me next year. Mentally, I\u2019m slowly getting to where I want to and the game is getting to where I want to.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following the Rory McIlroy-Jordan Spieth blueprint, an inspired Min Woo Lee is hunting a breakthrough Australian Open triumph…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":944847,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,6571,430219,755,5488,673,85],"class_list":["post-944846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-open","tag-domestic-sport","tag-golf","tag-min-woo-lee","tag-new-south-wales","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=944846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/944847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=944846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=944846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=944846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}