Min Woo Lee is welcoming the high expectations on him as he returns to his homeland to defend his BMW Australian PGA Championship title.
The fan favourite is one of several Australian headline acts competing at this week’s season-opening DP World Tour event, co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia, 12 months on from thrilling the home crowds on his way to victory at Royal Queensland Golf Club.
While he is expected to face stiff competition from Major Championship-winning countrymen Jason Day and Cameron Smith, who is the last player to successfully win the Joe Kirkwood Cup back-to-back, Lee is excited rather than daunted by the opportunity in front of him.
“I think you can either put the pressure on you or you can smell the flowers and enjoy what you did last year,” he said. “I guess that’s my approach.
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“I don’t mind when there’s a bit of pressure on me. I do tend to play better just because I don’t want to stuff up and I don’t want to get too lazy and to just go out there and play good or just play golf.
“So, I’m going to go out there and hopefully give a show to the crowds.”
Lee tees it up in Brisbane for his third event in as many weeks after competing at the DP World Tour Play-Offs in the United Arab Emirates earlier this month, where he registered back-to-back top 25 finishes in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
While he has yet to win in 2024, Lee did represent his nation at the Olympic Games and competed for the International team at the Presidents Cup, and he is optimistic about his game as he targets another fast start to a season.
“When I first turned pro there were a lot of fiery finishes, but also a lot of missed cuts when I first turned pro,” the 28-year-old reflected.
“So, the last couple of years I’ve played a lot of weekends but not got myself as much as I wanted to into contention.
“So again, I think we’re just trying to find my feet to play better golf and it’s heading into that direction, so hopefully it can translate soon.
“But the game’s getting close, and I think my team and I are pretty proud of where it’s going. Just need to put four good rounds together and hopefully I’ll be there.
“I had two [wins] last year, but I haven’t won this year and hopefully one of the next two weeks is nice to me.”
World Number 48 Lee will play alongside Smith and Olympics team-mate Day over the opening two days, with the latter making his first appearance at the event since a top ten finish in 2011.
Since then, Day has become a Major champion, reached the summit of the Official World Golf Ranking and overcome injury troubles to return to somewhere near his best.
Last year, he returned to the PGA TOUR winner’s circle after a five-year wait, went on to finish second at The Open and he has his sights set on his first domestic triumph since winning the World Cup of Golf at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in 2013.
"I've always wanted to win in Australia and I haven't won as a professional," said Day.
"I've seen Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy come down and win... it'd be nice for me to do that, especially in Brisbane, where I grew up playing some tournaments at Royal Queensland.
“I’ve taken just over three months off I think since my last tournament. So yeah, I’m very fresh coming into this week.
“I might be a little tournament-rusty, but I’ve done a lot of work leading into this event and then obviously the work that I’ve tried to put in as much as possible over the last three days here.”
