Put your money on Minjee Lee to win a maiden Australian Open this week.
That’s the bold call from her brother, newly minted Australian PGA champ Min Woo Lee, who says sibling rivalry could propel the world No.5 to victory in Sydney this week.
It’s a prediction based on recent fact as well.
Minjee’s most recent victory at the BMW Championship, her second for 2023 that helped propel her to a third Greg Norman Medal, came the week after Min Woo streeted the field to win the Macau Open, making October a monster month for the Lees.
In 2021, two weeks after Min Woo won the Scottish Open, Minjee won her first major, the Evian Championship as well.
The superstar siblings will both tee off at the dual-gender Open in Sydney, and Min Woo said having recovered what he called putting “yips” his big sister could be ready to salute again.
“It’s funny, because every time I win it seems like next week she wins, so if you guys want to put some money on my sister winning next week, you’ll probably win,” Min Woo said after his victory at Royal Queensland.
“It’s cool. If I win next week or she doesn’t win, it will be nice to have that for the Christmas and for the New Year’s break, have it for a few weeks, that will be nice.
“But I’m obviously trying to be as good as I can and she’s one of a kind. She’s a really great golfer and she’s not slowing down.
“She knows she slowed down early in the year but she’s found a way to win again, which was near career-ending kind of putter yips and now she’s slowly overcoming that. It’s pretty special to see that hard work really happens.
“That’s not a secret to anyone. She’s always worked hard and hopefully I can follow in her footsteps and keep winning tournaments.”
Min Woo said he was going to “behave” after his PGA win, with a goal to go back-to-back and add an Australian Open trophy to his ever-filling trophy cabinet.
“There’s more confidence about my game, but then there’s obviously pressure that I could win again. But I’m really excited for next week,” he said.
“Hopefully, the night doesn’t take it away, but I told myself to behave tonight because next week’s as important as this week. We’ll see how that goes.
“I probably won’t listen to myself, but I’m really excited about next week. Hopefully, I can play well.”
The mixed-gender Australian Open will be played at The Australian Golf Club and The Lakes in Sydney.
