[Photo: Getty images]
Jason Day has backed Min Woo Lee as the best equipped become Australia’s next male world No.1 golfer if he’s prepared to adopt the lifestyle required to dominate elite golf.
After some honest advice from former world No.1 Day, Lee eschewed a massive celebration for his recent breakthrough PGA Tour victory in favour of scrupulous Masters preparation.
Lee, a three-time winner on the DP World Tour, had searched for two years for a maiden PGA Tour title until joining the winner’s circle at the Texas Children’s Houston Open two weeks ago.
It catapulted him to world No.23, the highest ranking of all five Australians in the Masters field including Day, Lee, Cameron Smith, Adam Scott and Cameron Davis. Now, he’s got world No.1 in his sights.
Lee with his caddie Brian “Bo” Martin on Wednesday at Augusta.
In the middle of his victory parade Lee, a social media star, even took a FaceTime call from pop megastar Justin Bieber.
That was as wild as his party became. Lee spent the week in between the Masters in his adopted home of Las Vegas dining out at nice restaurants with his girlfriend and his two-time major winner sister, LPGA star Minjee Lee.
“It was nothing crazy and it was a good week to chill out before this one,” Lee told Australian reporters on site at Augusta National. “It actually was very hard to keep sleeping. I just wanted to be up and checking my phone and was buzzing for the whole week. Everyone was very supportive, I just wanted to be around that. You’ve got to take it as they come and it was good fun. It was exhausting but great fun as well. I went to some restaurants with Minjee, and had some nice food, but it was very quiet.”
Once he arrived at Augusta National, Lee played a Tuesday practice with major winners Smith and Day, and again with Day on Wednesday. Both Smith (2020) and Day (2011) have been runners up at the Masters.
“I’m getting more comfortable here,” Lee said of Augusta, where he was T-14 on debut in 2022 and T-22 last year. “It’s my fourth year now. They’ve [Aussie boys] put me under their wing and we have some Aussie banter.”
Day and Lee have formed a brotherly friendship cemented at last year’s Olympics in Paris, where they formed the Australian men’s team. The 37-year-old Queenslander Day has repeatedly told his younger mate from Perth that hard work was the only thing standing in the way of winning majors and becoming world No.1.
“I think with Min, it’s all up to him if he wants to get to No. 1 and to that next level. Obviously there is work ethic and that desire to become No. 1 in the world,” Day said. “It’s a lifestyle change he has to understand. I know he has the tools and the mental side to do it because he loves the moment, and that’s something that you cannot teach golfers, to love being in that moment and under the most stress.
“If he can really enjoy that and just improve overtime, he’ll be probably be our next No. 1. I’m going to take myself out of conversation because that’s my goal as well. But he’s got the best chance to become No. 1 from Australia.”
Lee regularly reaches over 190 miles an hour for ball speed with his driver and has a world-class short game. His irons are improving after some significant work on raising his trajectory for approach shots to hold Augusta’s slick greens. All signs point to the 26-year-old being one of the contenders at the 89th Masters this week.
Lee was given an enormous compliment by Masters officials when he was placed in a featured grouping on the tournament broadcast feed with two-time major winner Collin Morikawa and Joaquin Niemann.
“It was nice, that’s cool,” Lee said of the grouping. “I love playing here, it’s my favourite place and have played well before, so maybe [Augusta officials] see I can make some birdies and mix it with everyone. It’s awesome to be in a feature group and get around it. The only trouble is we (Morikawa and Lee) share the same physio. But yeh, we play every week when we’re back home [in Las Vegas].”
AUSSIE TEE TIMES AT THE 89TH MASTERS
8:52 AM ET (Thursday 10:52 PM AEST), Cameron Smith J.T. Poston, Aaron Rai (England)
9:47 AM ET (Thursday 11:47 PM AEST) Min Woo Lee Collin Morikawa, Joaquin Niemann (Chile)
9:58 AM ET (Saturday 12:58 AM AEST) Jason Day, Phil Mickelson, Keegan Bradley
10:48 AM ET (Saturday 12:48 AM AEST) Cameron Davis, Rafael Campos (Puerto Rico), Austin Eckroat
1:01 PM ET (Saturday 3:01 AM AEST) Adam Scott, Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland
