Let's start with who is Min Woo Lee and how did he get into The Players? Everybody wants to know.
He was ahead of last year’s Masters champ, Scottie Scheffler until the 18th hole on Saturday?
You already know Scheffler, but Min Woo Lee? Could he win?
Lee is an Aussie, and they have won here in bunches. We’ve had Greg Norman, Steve Elkington, Adam Scott, and, of course, last year’s Cameron Smith. Not a bad list for a small country.
Lee is an Australian whose sister Minjee Lee is on the LPGA Tour. She’s 26 years old, winner of last year’s U.S. Women’s Open and the 2021 Evian, both LPGA majors. She and her brother are from Perth, Australia. He’s 24 and third on the DP World Tour, behind Victor Perez and Rory McIlroy in their points.
What you didn’t know that? Neither did anyone who doesn’t follow the DP World Tour and the LPGA, which is most people, even most golfers.
“I was the last person pretty much to get in from the rankings, being 50th on the dot. But I'm excited,” he said about being a newcomer at The Players.
Min Woo Lee basically got to 50th in the Official World Golf Rankings with his finish in the Honda Classic.
“After the Saturday (at the Honda), I was coming 60th or something, and I knew I needed to shoot a low round to have a chance,” he said. “I think it ended up being one-eighth of a shot that I got in from 51st to 50. So, everything worked out well.”
What he’s best known for so far is winning the 2021 Genesis Scottish Open, which is a PGA Tour co-sponsored event with the DP (European) World Tour. He beat everybody you can imagine in a three-way playoff that included Thomas Detry and Matthew Fitzpatrick (before he won the U.S. Open).
He also defeated Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Sam Burns, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Will Zalatoris, Collin Morikawa, Rory McIlroy and a host of others at that tournament.
More recently, he’s the guy who suffered leg cramps in the first round of The Players at the 15th hole.
“It was kind of a funny story,” he said. “I thought I had -- at the beginning of the week I thought I had an allergic reaction to the electrolytes I was having, and if you don't have electrolytes, you get cramps, and then I got a cramp. Yeah, it put the puzzle pieces together, and that's what happened.”
It didn’t bother him aferward as he posted a 68, 70 and 66.
Because he had not played TPC Sawgrass, Lee needed some help to learn the course. Enter the internet. Lee said he watched Tiger’s victory in 2013 to prepare.
“I know it was a different time, but Tiger hit a lot of -- not many drivers -- and a lot of 3-woods and 5-woods,” Lee said. “That kind of gave me confidence that I could do it.”
If he plays Sunday like he has the rest of the week, people may be watching his round to find out how to play the course and win.
Could he win? Honestly, it would be hard, but he has played well all week, and he has won all over the world. And he’s an Aussie, and they have won here in the past. He played a practice round with Adam Scott and Jason Day. That should give him some guidance and encouragement.
