As Min Woo Lee Cruises to a Dominant Victory on Home Soil, Is He Eligible to Play in the 2024 PGA Tour?

Australian golfer Min Woo Lee held onto his lead at the Royal Queensland Golf Course to net his second win on home soil. In the final fourth round of the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship, Lee maintained a three-shot lead with 20-under to claim the AUD $340,000 winner’s paycheck. With Lee’s victory, the European Tour has the first winner for the next season.

The story was quite different in the middle of the season. Only last month, Min Woo Lee’s main concern was to seal a PGA Tour card. Although Lee did have a temporary Tour Card that allowed him multiple sponsor exemptions, it didn’t guarantee his playing status for the next season. Just weeks later, the Australian Pro is on cloud nine with his maiden DP World Tour Victory.

The three-shot victory was not a walk in the park

Min Woo Lee’s overnight three-shot lead was erased quickly on Sunday morning. Rikuya Hoshino of Japan came from behind to snap at his heels but failed to usurp the Australian on the leaderboard.

But in the morning, the key highlight was Niemann’s ace-in-hole on the fourth hole, the second in the span of three days in the tournament. Lee, too, in a bid to extend his lead, aimed for a hole-in-one. However, his booming drive failed to sink the ball into the fourth hole. 

Nevertheless, it didn’t matter as the 25-year-old made an eagle on the ninth with a chip that would make even Viktor Hovland envious. The commentators described the 50-meter approach shot as “one of the shots of the tournament.” Hear the gallery go wild after that.

This is Min Woo Lee’s first victory on the DP World Tour. But the Australian pro’s aim since college was to earn the PGA Tour Card, as his sister did on the female circuit. Has he been able to do that yet?

Will Min Woo Lee play on the PGA Tour next year?

Earlier, Lee received the Special Temporary Membership for the PGA Tour. After earning his special membership, he participated in four PGAT events, the last coming at the Zozo Championship a month back. Temporary members automatically earn the Tour card if they can finish within 125 on the FedEx Fall rankings.

Read More: Min Woo Lee WITB 2023: All You Need to Know About His Golf Equipment

The 25-year-old pro finished at the sixth spot in Japan. Evidently, winning the Tour Card indeed was a shot in the arm for the Australian Pro. Carrying the strong momentum, he also netted a top-20 finish in the DP World Tour Championship and now wins his first Australian PGA Championship title.

Notably, Min Woo Lee and his sister Min Jee Lee made history by becoming the first brother-sister duo in recorded history to win two consecutive titles in two weeks. But surely kickstarting the new season with a thumping victory at Brisbane victory would mean much more to the young gun.

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