Crowd favourite Min Woo Lee wants to feel the thrill of contending at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open in Melbourne this week after a super-consistent 2024.
Thirteen Top 25 results in 2024 have sustained his world ranking inside the Top 50 at No.49 but it is 12 months since his last victory.
No one will forget how the ISPS HANDA ambassador ignited golf in Australia last summer by winning the Australian PGA and leading into the final round of the Australian Open in Sydney.
His bid for the Australian Open crown came unstuck when birdies were far harder to come by in the final round when Chile’s Joaquin Niemann surged to the title.
The young Australian now takes aim at his national title at Kingston Heath and Victoria Golf Clubs. He will play a round at each on Thursday and Friday before the tournament is decided at Kingston Heath on the weekend.
A niggly knee complaint disrupted his Australian PGA last week which meant he didn’t have the confidence to bend down to read putts as he normally would.
He felt a little flat because of it but he still drove the ball long and strong and closed with an upbeat five-under-par 66 for joint 15th.
“I needed to find something and there was good stuff going into this week which is important,” Lee said.”
There were learnings from being right in the mix on Sunday in his national Open in 2023.
“I mean for the week to go really well, you need to do most things right. I made an easy double bogey that didn’t need to happen. That’s one of the things you learn and hopefully you don’t make that mistake again.
“Being in contention any time is great.”
Lee’s experience on Melbourne’s famed sandbelt courses is not as touted as fellow contenders Mark Leishman or Lucas Herbert but he did finish third in 2022 when the Australian Open was played in this same two-course format.
Cameron Smith has finished top three in three consecutive tournaments in Australia so he’s golf-hardened for this quest to claim the Australian Open.
In the women’s field, South African Ashleigh Buhai is aiming for her third straight Australian Open.
“I’ve been coming to Australia to play since I was a 12-year-old. I just love coming down here,” Buhai said.
“I’ve got many family and friends here.
“Having the combination of All Abilities, men and women competing this week is just amazing. I think it’s a great event and played on some amazing courses each year. It’s one of the best events we play all year.”
GOLFERS TO WATCH:
Men:
Joaquin Niemann (Chile): Defending champion
Cameron Smith (Australia): 2022 Open Champion, Captain of Ripper GC
Cam Davis (Australia): 2-time PGA TOUR winner; 2017 Australian Open champion
Elvis Smylie (Australia): 2024 BMW Australian PGA champion
Lucas Herbert (Australia): Winner 2023 ISPS HANDA Championship, Japan
Women:
Ashleigh Buhai (South Africa): 2022 and 2023 Australian Open winner
Hannah Green (Australia): 3-time LPGA Tour winner in 2024
Minjee Lee (Australia): 2-time major champion
Jiyai Shin (South Korea): Former world No.1, 2-time major champion and 2013 Australian Open winner
Danielle Kang (USA): Former world No.2
All Abilities:
Johan Kammerstad (Sweden): Two-time AAAC winner
Kipp Popert (England): 2022 champion and world No.1
Brendan Lawlor (Ireland): 2023 G4D Open winner
Follow Live Scoring here: https://www.golf.org.au/ausopen/
