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Min Woo Lee has Steph Curry\u2019s number in his phone. He kept tagging the NBA legend so many times on Instagram, you suspect Curry might have just followed him a little out of sympathy.<\/p>\n
In the end, they traded some DMs, and when Curry invested in Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy\u2019s made-for-television league, Lee cheekily asked Curry to put him on his team.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe hasn\u2019t replied to me yet,\u201d Lee laughed.<\/p>\n
Now he might know how others feel.<\/p>\n
After wrapping up his biggest tournament win in the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland on Sunday, Lee\u2019s mother Clara emerged from the gallery to suggest her own pleas with her son have been falling on deaf ears.<\/p>\n
Midway through American rapper Post Malone\u2019s Brisbane concert on Thursday night, Lee\u2019s phone pinged with a text message from mum. Her son had started the tournament with a flurry of birdies, to be one behind a surprise leader. But the real show, to Lee, was later that night.<\/p>\n
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Min Woo Lee celebrates his eagle on the ninth hole.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>PGA of Australia<\/cite><\/p>\n Please don\u2019t be tired.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cBut he was a little bit tired,\u201d laughed Lee\u2019s mother Clara. \u201cI kept telling him, \u2018quiet night, quiet night. You have to have a good rest\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n By the time he made it to the first tee on Sunday, Clara knew her son was rested again.<\/p>\n She gave him a brief hug as he strode to the tee box, told him to be patient, and less than five hours later Min Woo had crowned himself as the new rock star of his sport.<\/p>\n Min Woo Lee is sprayed with champagne on the 18th green.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Dan Peeled<\/cite><\/p>\n Lee\u2019s (-20) final round three-under 68 was enough to comfortably beat Japan\u2019s Rikuya Hoshino (-17) with Marc Leishman (-16) finishing third. For those who have followed Lee\u2019s journey, it almost felt inevitable this day was coming.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s No.1 for sure,\u201d Lee said of the win. \u201cRight now is obviously the top, in front of Australia and in front of my family. I\u2019ve been waiting for so long to play really well in Australia and I\u2019m glad I did it\\ this week in the Australian PGA. I knew it was coming, my team knew it was coming.\u201d<\/p>\n Per script, it wasn\u2019t boring.<\/p>\n His three-shot overnight lead was gone within two holes, but by the time he left the party hole 17th a few hours later, he was wearing a chef\u2019s hat \u2013 a nod to his \u201clet him cook\u201d slogan \u2013 handed to him by a fan, and rousing the crowd with a thunderclap. You sensed he didn\u2019t want to leave for the 18th.<\/p>\n But the day\u2019s defining moment came on the ninth hole.<\/p>\n Lee\u2019s burgeoning social media presence includes videos of him holing out from off the green. He writes on the posts he\u2019s calling for a doctor: Doctor Chipinski. Fittingly, he delivered the hammer blow, dunking a 50-metre pitch for eagle.<\/p>\n \u201cI probably haven\u2019t screamed louder than that ever,\u201d Lee said. \u201cIt was probably one of the best shots I\u2019ve ever hit. I know my coach Ritchie [Smith] doesn\u2019t like me closing that lob wedge too much, but I ended up doing it, and it ended up going in \u2026 so he can shut up for a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n In the background of the television picture, his great mate and fellow Perth native Curtis Luck had his arm raised in the air long before the ball bumped its way up to the hole.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew straight away as soon as it took its second bounce and released, I was like, \u2018that\u2019s going to be perfect\u2019,\u201d Luck said. \u201cIt was only a question of time whether it was going to roll up to a foot or be in the hole. I can\u2019t do anything but put thumbs up to amazing shots like that.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s always been a stud, but he\u2019s pretty world-class now.\u201d<\/p>\n By the time Lee walked to the third tee, his lead had evaporated. Hoshino made a birdie-birdie start, Lee dropping a shot straight out of the gates on the first.<\/p>\n But Lee never wavered, a flawless short game driving him to a momentous victory as he tries to win his first Australian Open in Sydney alongside sister Minjee.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not usually nervous, but I was nervous today,\u201d Clara said. \u201cToday was Australia, I felt he had to win this tournament. He\u2019s totally different in personality to Minjee and it\u2019s so much fun to watch him. He\u2019s just a performer.\u201d<\/p>\n Added Min Woo: \u201cLimits? There\u2019s no limits. I want to be the No.1 player in the world.<\/p>\n \u201cMinjee\u2019s one of a kind golfer. Everyone knows she\u2019s good and I\u2019m slowly becoming a name myself. Every time I win, it seems like next week she wins.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you guys want to put some money on my sister next week…\u201d<\/p>\n Sports news, results and expert commentary.<\/i><\/b> Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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