By Evin Priest
PROMISING Australian amateur Min Woo Lee was standing on the practice fairway at Sage Valley Country Club in South Carolina.
Quietly hitting drivers to the same spot. Alignment correct? Check. Slight draw? Check.
The younger brother of LPGA Tour star Minjee Lee thought his preparation for the Sage Valley Junior Invitational was perfect.
Until a hulking figure in Nike gear walked over.
“What are you doing?” asked the voice. “You’re just hitting driver after driver, mindlessly.”
The 17-year-old turned around and saw Tiger Woods standing there with a puzzled look on his face. Is that Tiger Woods getting stuck into me about practising?
“Yep,” laughs Lee. “I was on the range, bombing drives out into the distance. Notah Begay III calls Tiger over and he asks what I’m doing. It was the most surreal thing I’ve ever experienced.”
The Perth teenager spent the next 30 minutes receiving one-on-one coaching from Woods. The 79-times US PGA Tour winner was quick to point out where Lee was going wrong.
“You see that tree, there?” Woods asked Lee. “Always practise hitting at targets. If you’re going to draw the ball, aim at that tree and bend it back to that one.”
After opening with a disappointing 1-over par 73 at the prestigious 54-hole amateur event, the private lesson with Woods turned Lee’s game around. He hit back with a 1-under par 71 on the second day, before coming home with the lowest final round by four shots. Lee’s closing 67 earned him a 5-under tournament total and runner-up finish to American Austin Eckroat (6-under).
“Meeting Tiger was special, and talking to him one-on-one was even better,” says Lee. “No other competitors got that. It definitely inspired me to play better.
“He also gave a clinic to all of us and it was unbelievable; he was hitting perfect shots. He would call a shot and then hit – a two-metre draw or a big fade. His contact was so crisp for someone who has been injured. I couldn’t even imagine Tiger in his prime.
“He told us how important it is to keep your irons pin-high on every shot, as well as tips on every facet of golf. I’ve put that into my own game and started to see results already.”
The meeting with the four-time Masters champion, ironically 20 minutes’ drive from Augusta National, was timely for Lee after being included in Golf Australia’s 2016 national squad in January. It rewarded a phenomenal year for the Royal Fremantle member, during which Lee won the 2015 Aaron Baddeley International World Final in San Diego, birdied the final three holes to claim the WA Amateur and finished joint-low amateur at the Spirit International in Texas.
“But it’s just the beginning,” says Lee. “Yes I’m in the national squad now, but I have to take a step further and try to compete at a higher level.”
Lee’s aim for the remainder of 2016 is to contend in the professional ranks after a purple patch in 2015. His course-record 64 at Kalgoorlie saw him lead the first round off the WA PGA in October, before sharing 10th place at the WA Open at his home course a week later. The Year 12 student will get an opportunity to test his mettle against world-class players at the Australian Open in November, having earned a spot at Royal Sydney courtesy of his Aaron Baddeley International triumph.
In order to prepare for our national championship, Lee will lean on renowned Perth instructor Ritchie Smith, who also coaches sister Minjee.
“Ritchie has worked on my swing and my whole game. He’s a fantastic coach and I improve every time I see him,” says Lee.
But will Lee pick the brains of his sister, a talented two-time LPGA Tour winner?
“Yeah, she’s doing so well; to have won twice in her first two years on the ladies’ biggest stage inspires me to play better golf. “She’s got so much experience to pass on to me from both the pro and amateur ranks.”
As for how Min Woo conducts himself on the practice fairway, criticism is reserved solely for Tiger Woods.
“If my sister said that to me I wouldn’t have taken it that seriously,” laughs Lee. “Tiger’s the greatest golfer of all time.”
