Lees serious supporters of mixed events
THE next evolution of golf tournaments should be combined men’s and women’s teams events, if only so Min Woo Lee can capitalise on his sister Minjee’s brilliance.
This week’s Australian Open, with the men’s and women’s events to be played on the same course at the same time, is the first time a national title has been contested in such a fashion. However it might not be the last, with a push to turn golf at the Olympics into a mixed team event having the backing of the Lees.
“It would be nice to have a partner that hits every fairway and every green so I can just lash at it,” Min Woo said with a smile, looking at his sister, the world No.5 and current US Open champion.
“Whenever it comes, I’ll be excited. The family is probably going to be there, which is always key and we don’t get to see each other that often, so that would be amazing to play with each other .
“We don’t really get to do that, only in tournaments like this and the Vic Open so hopefully the bigger tours or this tour just keeps doing it and we can keep playing as a family.”
Minjee said there had been some “conversations” about such a plan but urged other players to voice their enthusiasm to make it happen sooner rather than later.
“I guess if more players are more interested in those kinds of things, and maybe we’d get the conversation rolling a bit faster,” she said.
Brother and sister shared a practice round on Tuesday, playing with Adam Scott, which opened Minjee’s eyes to how far her brother, a twotime DP World Tour winner, had come. “I actually haven’t played that much golf with Min Woo to be fair, so just seeing him play and, you know, seeing him go about his business, I think it’s really cool to see just to experience that with him,” she said. “He’s grown up a lot since the last time I played with him.”