Min Woo Lee brought his encouraging end-of-season form from 2023 into the 2024 DP World Tour campaign as he won the Opening Swing after starring on home soil.
As part of a revamped schedule, the DP World Tour split the new season into three distinct phases, with members competing for an overall record prize fund of $148.5 million (excluding the Majors).
Beginning just days after the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship – co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia – marked the opening event of the first of five Global Swings running through to August.
Widely considered one of the most talented and engaging players of his generation, Lee was the subject of great fan support at Royal Queensland Golf Club for the first leg of Australia's two most high-profile events.
After carding a seven-under-par 64 to sit one shot off the pace after the first round, the home favourite hit the front with back-to-back 66s as he targeted his third DP World Tour title.
And despite seeing an overnight three-shot advantage wiped out over the opening two holes of the first round, Lee found his stride to record a 68, which included a stunning chip-in eagle, to claim a three-stroke victory over Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino.
Living up to his billing as an entertainer, the 25-year-old engaged with the home crowds on several occasions, including wearing a chef’s hat to go with his well-known ‘let him cook’ phrase and leading a thunderclap.
Victory - his second in a month after success at the Macao Open on the Asian Tour - lifted Lee to the summit of the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex and he brought the momentum with him to his national Open, held at The Australian and The Lakes golf clubs in Sydney.
A stunning nine iron from the pine straw to tap-in range for an eagle gave him a three-shot halfway lead as he set about trying to become just the seventh player to pull off the Australian Open-PGA double.
That rare golf double remained a distinct possibility when he birdied the 18th at The Australian to share the 54-hole lead alongside a familiar adversary in Hoshino.
But it wasn’t to be for Lee in the final round as he settled for third place after a one-over-par 72 as Joaquin Niemann defeated Hoshino in a play-off to win his first DP World Tour title.
But despite missing out on back-to-back titles on home soil, Lee was able to take some consolation in the knowledge he was first on both the Race to Dubai and Opening Swing rankings with Hoshino just behind him after his second runner-up finish in as many weeks.
While Lee did not feature again during the Opening Swing, his haul of 688 points was not bettered among his fellow DP World Tour members and as a result he earns US$200,000 from an $1million Bonus Pool that is split between the winner of each global swing and a place in the second part of the DP World Tour season - the Back 9.
Who else won during the Opening Swing?
Across the six-event Opening Swing, there were four different winners that emerged.
On the opening weekend of the season and hours after Lee’s success Down Under, there was another triumph for a player on home soil as Dean Burmester won the Joburg Open.
The South African carded a closing bogey-free 64 as he overturned a three-shot overnight deficit to secure a three-shot victory at Houghton Golf Club.
The win for Burmester was his third on the DP World Tour and first in two-and-half years but it wasn’t long before he was winning again.
On the same day Niemann entered the DP World Tour winner’s circle for the first time, Burmester made it back-to-back victories as he lifted the Investec South African Open Championship title.
But he wasn’t the only South African to land back-to-back titles.
After winning the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek, the third of four events on South African soil co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour, Louis Oosthuizen backed it up with success at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in the final event of 2023.
Who else impressed?
From a star of the future playing with full privileges on the DP World Tour for the first time this season to players who graduated from the European Challenge Tour and Qualifying School, several deserve praise for impressing during the opening four weeks of the season.
We begin with Jayden Schaper. In four events, the 22-year-old South African recorded four top tens to underline his burgeoning reputation and finish the Opening Swing in sixth place.
That was one spot below countryman and five-time DP World Tour winner Darren Fichardt, who regained his Tour card at the Qualifying School last month.
With his runner-up finish at the Joburg Open, the 48-year-old joined Burmester and Dan Bradbury in securing one of three places on offer for next year’s The 152nd Open at the first event in The Open Qualifying Series.
Another player to enjoy a fine start to the new season after returning to the DP World Tour through Qualifying School Final Stage was Renato Paratore.
The Italian, a two-time DP World Tour winner, was runner-up to Burmester at South Africa’s national Open, before recording back-to-back top 20s at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open to sit seventh on the Race to Dubai.
Slightly further down the Rankings in ninth place is Jesper Svensson, who also finished in a share of second at the Investec South African Open Championship.
The Sweden won his maiden Challenge Tour title last year on his way to earning promotion to the DP World Tour for the first time.
Another Challenge Tour graduate who finds himself in the top 20 is Road to Mallorca Rankings winner Marco Penge, with the Englishman bouncing back from a missed cut at the Joburg Open to registered back-to-back top 12 finishes in his next two starts.
Shots of the season so far
There was no shortage of fantastic shot making during the first stretch of events on the DP World Tour's 2024 Race to Dubai.
Take your pick below from our five-strong shortlist!
