14 Jun 2022 | Professional golf |
Pumped up Min Woo's major mission
by Dane Heverin
West Australian Min Woo Lee has never been one to shy away from big occasions and his US Open debut at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts this week will be no exception.
The 23-year-old is a showman who produces breathtaking golf when his game clicks into gear.
He showed the world what he can do in winning the Scottish Open last year, and shooting a front nine 30 in the final round of The Masters in April, and in order to replicate those performances he is embracing the spotlight this week.
“I think my problem is kind of dumbing it down and making every tournament a tournament,” the world number 64 said.
“I think I have to hype myself up (this week) like the Masters. There’s so many people and I want to do well for my team and for them.
“I would like for myself to go into this tournament as a really big one. I’m not used to the PGA Tour tournaments and I’m playing them and especially this one, the US Open, it's another major. It’s my first US Open. I really would like to start off well like I did at the Masters and keep that going.”
Lee has been swept up in major fever during the past two weeks courtesy of big sister Minjee’s record-breaking US Women’s Open triumph at Pine Needles, and the siblings are chasing a slice of history.
No brother-sister golfing duo have ever won a major, but the Lee’s have ticked off many milestones already.
They have both won the Vic Open and the US Junior championship, and to add the US Open to their illustrious list, the younger sibling is looking to take on board one of his sister’s best characteristics.
“I like the way she handles herself on the course and I have to do something like that,” Lee said.
“I’m a pretty emotional player, so if I do feel good about myself, the game is fun. But when it’s a little bit off I tend to go on the emotional side and it affects my game a little bit more than when she is down.
“You're going to miss a fairway, you're going to miss a green. It's going to be firmer than what it is now and it's going to be faster.
"The rough is probably going to get thicker so just going into the tournament knowing it's going to be tough and errors are going to happen.
"Take your opportunities when you can but also don't get too riled up about it. It's golf and it's the US Open.
"So I think the person who forgets (the errors) the quickest could win."
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