What looked like a pleasant and reasonably easy Sunday afternoon for one of the PGA Tour’s brighter young stars had twists and turns, but Min Woo Lee was able to hold off the top-ranked player in the world to win the Houston Open.
It is Lee’s first PGA Tour victory, finishing at 20 under par, one shot ahead of Scottie Scheffler and Gary Woodland.
“Scottie is a wonderful golfer, and he keeps you on your toes,” Lee told NBC. “This was my first time being in front and trying to hold a lead, and I’m glad I got it done. I’m very exhausted. It was a lot of mental grind, and I’m so proud of the way I handled myself.”
Lee began the day with a four-shot lead on his closest competitor, with Scheffler in a group five strokes back. It would take a lot of trouble for Lee to lose such a lead, and he was keeping the field at bay, extending a bogey-less streak to 41 holes and carrying a three-shot lead when he stepped to the tee box at No. 16.
That’s when the trouble happened. Lee blasted his driver right, into the water — only the second water ball of the day at the hole. He chose to tee his third shot and put it in the fairway, but ahead of him, Scheffler had birdied the par 5 to get a stroke back. Lee had 41 feet for par but missed, dropping a stroke and suddenly clutching a one-stroke lead.
“To be honest, I played unbelievable up until that bogey, but it’s hard. It’s really hard,” Lee said.
Woodland, one of two men who fired a course-record-tying 62 on Sunday, got to 19 under par, and Scheffler had two chances to birdie a hole and potentially force a playoff. But he left a 20-foot birdie putt on No. 17 short, and his second shot on No. 18 missed the green.
Lee just needed par to finish a round of 67 and putted it off the green from 53 feet away to 8 inches, beating his chest as he watched his ball roll up.
Lee had not won since the November 2023 Australian PGA Championship. The brother of LPGA star Minjee, Min Woo has built up a huge social media following as he ascended from their native Australia to the PGA Tour, building an impressive list of accomplishments along the way that includes a 2024 Presidents Cup appearance and representing Australia at the Olympics.
Known for his impressive ball speed — he set a TGL record with 192 mph speed on the simulator — but not always controlling the ball, the chef found his ideal kitchen this week in Houston. With rain softening Memorial Park Golf Course, a public facility that sees 60,000 rounds a year, and dramatically less rough than tour pros faced during the Florida swing, it was set up for Lee. It was the lowest score in the 77-year history of the Houston Open.
Lee faced an external problem during his final round, in the form of playing partner Alejandro Tosti. The latter became enraged when Lee, who hit his tee shot on No. 8 under a bush with thick electrical wires also in his path, struggled to keep pace. Lee eventually managed to make par on the par-5 hole (after his caddie lightly critiqued Lee’s desire to play out of the bush by saying, “I just don’t think that’s ever the shot”), but it took the group more than 30 minutes to complete the hole.
Tosti, who spoke to a rules official during the delay, then drew the attention of NBC roving broadcaster Jim “Bones” Mackay, with Mackay commenting on the broadcast about Tosti noticeably slowing his own pace.
Sami Valimaki also shot a 62 to finish at 17 under, solo fourth. Rory McIlroy, Wyndham Clark, Taylor Pendrith and Tosti tied for fifth at 15 under.
(Photo: Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)
