Make no mistake, it’s good to be Min Woo Lee right now.
The uber-talented West Australian is as bankable a golf star as we’ve seen in a long time, a fact confirmed by both his impressive victory at the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane last weekend and his ability to energise and feed off the energy of a crowd.
To close and casual observers alike, there’s a rising sentiment that Lee is like a rocket preparing to launch. His growing confidence and comfort levels are feeding a very modern persona in which he’s authoring a string of fine finishes on the golf course while growing a loyal fan base that’s lapping up every theatrical performance, whether golf-related or not. Now ranked a career-high 38th in the world, he’s got more than enough substance to match the style.
In short, Lee is golf’s ultimate showman, an athlete and entertainer walking perfectly that skinny line between confidence and arrogance.
“Since I was a little kid, I loved doing social media and loved being in the spotlight and being the front of attention,” he said at The Australian Golf Club this morning. “It’s nice to be both – a great player and try to be funny about things and try to make people happy.
“I feel like I expected it, to be a great player and then, I guess, being out there in the social-media world. I expected that too, because I’ve done it from such a young age. It’s really cool. Every week I feel like I’m getting more fans wherever I go and wherever I do go, there are fans, even in small countries. I really appreciate that. The support’s been unreal.”
Lee’s learning – and learning fast. Maybe it’s watching his older sister go through the same learning curve in professional golf, maybe it’s having the right people around him, maybe it’s a natural aptitude for sensing which move is the right one to make. Whatever the reason, he ‘gets it’ which is not always the case with elite sports stars.
Take last Sunday night, for instance. Knowing he was competing again this week, Lee embarked on only a “medium” celebration with the Joe Kirkwood Cup.
“[There’s] work to do this week,” he said today. “My win in Macau [last month] I kind of learnt from. I went pretty hard after that win and had Zozo the week after, so I thought I didn’t get the best preparation for that week. So I’m learning from those experiences. I just had a… I’ll say medium [celebration]. Not quiet, not massive, just right in the middle. Good enough to celebrate but not enough for a hangover.”
This week adds another dimension in the preparation stakes, with two courses – The Australian and The Lakes – to regain familiarity with. Even there, Lee is finding a way to work smarter rather than harder.
“My motto really is not to overdo it,” he told Australian Golf Digest. “I’ve played plenty of courses by just looking at it. As an amateur, you just go up and don’t have a practice round. You just have to go out and play and hopefully you [do well]. My caddie’s walking out there now and [ideally] you have a good enough caddie to look at the misses and where not to go and stuff like that.
“I think that’s the difference between when I was 18, 19 – just going out there and just playing – and now you’ve got someone to lean on and you’ve got someone that does their job really well and maps the course out.”
Asked what else he’s learned along the way – this year in particular – and Lee once again illustrates his growing maturity as a professional as well as figuring out which approach works best for him.
“Not to really overdo it,” he said. “I just wanted to stay happy and stay fresh. It’s been a long couple of years, so I kind of wanted to feel good and play [well]. It might have helped beating hundreds and thousands of balls, but for me, I’m the type of player that is a very ‘feel’ player and I don’t need to do too much of that.”
Lee dovetailed work and play last week by winning the Australian PGA and taking in a performance by American singer/rapper Post Malone in Brisbane during the week. Like Lee, Post Malone is in Sydney this week, but as he’s performing on Wednesday night – tournament eve – Lee is opting not to take in another show.
Which probably means he’ll be putting on one of his own once more.
FULL AUSTRALIAN OPEN COVERAGE HERE
