Min Woo Lee has just won his first PGA Tour title at the Houston Open, but his success certainly wasn’t without controversy.
Lee reminds Ryan Lavner of Wyndham Clark, with the Australian having edged out Scottie Scheffler and Gary Woodland at the Houston Open.
He finished on 20-under at Memorial Park Golf Course to clinch his maiden PGA Tour win, with the American pair closely following on 19-under.
But many fans called for Lee to be penalised during his final round, in which his group took over 30 minutes to complete the eighth hole.
Lee wanted to play a shot from under a bush on his knees, but was ultimately persuaded not to by caddie Brian ‘Bo’ Martin.
Min Woo Lee apologises after slow play controversy at the Houston Open
The Australian would go on to lift the trophy shortly after, with Lee now sharing his take on the situation with Pardon My Take.
“Someone needs to clear that up,” he said. “Was it 30 minutes just waiting on the tee as well? Because we waited for a good five or 10 minutes there.
“It didn’t feel like 30 minutes but part of it was waiting on the tee. That was obviously a moment which on social media everyone has been like 30 minutes, it shouldn’t be like that, you should start stroking guys.
“But a couple of holes later we caught up to them and then every hole was slow from them. Yes, that hole was slow but we had to wait every hole on the back nine, so it’s not like it made that big of a difference.
“It was slow for that hole, and I am sorry about that. But I had a tough decision, as an aggressive kid I wanted to get on my knees and hit that shot.
| Position | Player | Total |
| 1 | Min Woo Lee | -20 |
| T2 | Scottie Scheffler | -19 |
| T2 | Gary Woodland | -19 |
| 4 | Sami Valimaki | -17 |
“But my veteran caddy out there was telling me ‘hey!’ And it happened, the exact thing he said happened.
“It could have gone either way in my situation, I was like the lie is okay if I take a drop, it’s a bit of a bare lie and I didn’t hit my two iron well out of there but I thought if I could wack it out, 20 yards and still have a shot on to the green I could easily make a par that way but there was obviously risk involved. So hopefully you like me after this! But it looked bad, obviously.”
Brian ‘Bo’ Martin crucial as Min Woo Lee wins the Houston Open
Lee held a three-shot lead over Woodland at the time of his struggles, which were caused by a wayward drive from the tee.
And the persuasion from his veteran caddy not to attempt a tricky shot from his knees proved vital, with Lee going on to save par.
READ MORE: Min Woo Lee says who he thinks would win a match between himself and his sister Minjee Lee
Along with some superb golf from the player himself, Martin deserves huge praise for his words, which proved just how crucial and beneficial it can be to have an experienced caddy.
But the lengthy delay unsurprisingly didn’t go down well, coming at a time when slow play has dominated talk on the PGA Tour.
Fortunately for Lee, aside from his drop, a penalty for his actions was avoided, which he will be very grateful for in hindsight.
At the same time, however, the group in front involving Scheffler certainly weren’t miles ahead, while Lee is by no means a slow player in general.
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