For many, playing at the Olympics is the ultimate form of accomplishment. Representing one’s country while earning a medal at the same time becomes the sweet cherry on top of the pudding. But for Min Woo Lee, it didn’t seem to be the case until a while back. Interestingly, he hadn’t even kept the idea of playing at the quadrennial event in his vision, not to mention as one of his goals.

The Australian golfer was spotted in an interview ahead of the upcoming golf event at the Paris Games. Lee, during the same, recounted how the idea of being an Olympian didn’t cross his mind owing to his being behind the rankings: “In my book, it wasn’t really that big of a goal as I was too far back.”

The 3-time DP World Tour champ, however, managed to turn it around. He came out to the PGA Tour and fared considerably better, giving him a chance at the quadrennial games. “After coming out on the scene and playing out in America,” said Lee, “It was one of the biggest goals.” Moreover, this development also helped him change his goals and made him target the spot on the Australian team.

Min Woo Lee had been at No. 61 on the OWGR by December 2022. But several good finishes for the 26-year-old on the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour helped him climb the rankings. He managed to card four top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour in 2023 and two this year. On the other hand, the athlete clinched a victory in the European circuit at the 2023 Fortinet Australian PGA Championship and a T3 finish at the ISPS Handa Australian Open. This, in turn, allowed him to jump to the 35th position.

That’s not all. Cameron Smith’s failure to leave a mark at the DP World Tour-sanctioned events despite performing well in the LIV Golf League also helped Min Woo Lee claim his Olympic spot. The LIV Golf Pro was placed at No. 18 on November, 2023 and could have attended the Paris Games had he not missed the cut at the 2023 Fortinet Australian PGA Championship and followed it with a string of sub-par finishes. His failure to perform, undoubtedly, helped the Australian golfer represent his country with his sister in Paris.

Siblings Min Woo Lee and Minjee Lee in hopes of a gold medal

The PGA Tour Pro and the LPGA Tour Pro became the first siblings to represent their country, Australia, at the Olympics. The former will hope to clinch a medal in his debut, while his sister will be participating in her third when the games tee off on August 7. “Minjee’s already played a couple now, so she was always kind of going to be in there,” admitted Min Woo Lee, “But to have my sister, as a family to be there, it’s amazing.”

What about his sister? Even she was of the same opinion. “It’s more motivation that we both give to each other,” said the 28-year-old female golfer. “I think we both drive each other to be better. So I wouldn’t say it’s a rivalry. I would just say it’s just nudging each other along.” Well, it seems even the 2-time major champ would agree with her brother when it comes to the Olympics: “To call yourself a gold medalist is very cool.” But will Min Woo Lee and Minjee Lee be able to call themselves that? We’ll know that on Sunday!