Min Woo Lee has yet to get fully going on the PGA Tour, but there are undoubtedly signs that a first win is just around the corner.
Rick Shiels thinks Woo Lee hits it the best he’s ever seen, with the Australian certainly known for his big hitting.
Woo Lee hit a 336-yard iron at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in November, but such an approach has yet to fully pay dividends on the PGA Tour.
In contrast, his sister Minjee Lee is a 10-time winner on the LPGA Tour, and has two major championship wins to her name.
Min Woo Lee has, however, managed to build a social media following throughout his career, with the Australian undoubtedly one of the most popular players on the PGA Tour.
Min Woo Lee style inspired by Tiger Woods
Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, he is one of the stars of the new season of Full Swing, the Netflix documentary based on the lives of many professional golfers.
“This year, being in America has been very crazy and a surreal feeling,” Woo Lee said on season three episode five. “Obviously getting on Netflix is pretty cool. I think if I was kind of boring, I wouldn’t be here.”
And asked if there is someone in the history of golf who his style has been inspired by, he replied: “Tiger [Woods] back in the days, you know, he had the long shirts, and he looked kind of swaggy back then.
READ MORE: Who is Tiger Woods? A look inside the life of the greatest golfer of all time
“So I try to make myself look as stylish as possible. And I just think, if you look in the mirror and you feel good, hopefully you play well.”
Such style has been accompanied by plenty of support for Woo Lee, who has become synonymous with the phrase ‘Let him cook’.
Discussing that chant from fans, he said: “It was just like a meme on Instagram, and someone commented ‘just let him cook’.
“So then I put in a caption, and now everyone just started saying it, and it’s just popped off. I’m not a great chef.
“It’s amazing to have people support [me] at places that I don’t expect. It’s a big part of why I play. And every time I post a video just before a tournament, I’m like, s***, I gotta play good.”
Min Woo Lee gets ‘mad’ at being labelled just a ‘social media guy’
Min Woo Lee is back on the PGA Tour for 2025, with the Australian having made three appearances so far.
He finished T17 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, T12 at the WM Phoenix Open, and 48 at the Genesis Invitational.
There was, however, plenty of heartache in 2024, with Woo Lee clinching two runner-up spots, along with a T22 finish at the Olympics.
He was part of history in Paris, with Min Woo Lee and Minjee Lee becoming the first siblings to compete in Olympic golf for Australia.
Discussing his sister, Woo Lee said: “Well, yeah, we’re like complete opposites. I’ve got social media, she doesn’t have social media.
“I mean, she can be a lot more social on her social media account, for sure, because she posts like 10 times a year, I post like 10 times a month.
“I love social media. I’ve just cracked 600,000 followers on Instagram. I try to be as like real and honest on social media, I guess people like that.
“I like to make people laugh and have fun, and I know I make a lot of people happy and a lot of people motivated.
“I had a couple weeks off, and it was a bit too far to to go back to Australia, so I came over here to Vegas and my sister’s in town, and I can go and support her.
“To see her play good golf is cool. She doesn’t show emotion, she just gets on with her work, she doesn’t really mess around too much.
“Unlike me, I’m the opposite. I want the whole world to know what I’m doing, so something to learn off her too. My sister’s pretty good at golf, and she wins LPGA tournaments a lot.
“When I was 10 to 15, I was just a younger brother and she was the older sister. I would annoy the crap out of her, and she would never really want me close during practice.
“I think that’s good to try to live up to her standards, but I’m not quite there yet, so hopefully in the future I can. I’m gonna look forward to that moment.
Until that moment arrives, however, Woo Lee is well aware of the criticism that has gone his way by some people in terms of his affinity with social media.
And while he tries to ignore such criticism, there is a part of it that does lead to frustration for the Australian.
“People are going to just say I’m a social media guy,” he said. “Yeah, it kind of makes me mad. You can get dragged into it and it can hurt your feelings, I guess. But I try to not let that affect me as much.”
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