DOUBLING UP

Successful siblings in golf are nothing new. On the LPGA Tour alone, the Kordas (Jessica and Nelly), Jutanugarns (Ariya and Moriya) and Sorenstams (Annika and Charlotta) have all been winners.

There has also been plenty of notable brother and sister combinations to achieve success in their respective areas of the game, however, the unique Vic Open offers Minjee and Min Woo Lee the chance to claim an unheralded record in golf.

Now a European and LPGA Tour event for the men and women, the tournament has been a leader in the golf world for parity across the genders, played at the same venue for the same prizemoney. The Lee’s potentially bringing even more attention to the event if they were able to claim their respective flights and hold the trophies aloft.

As the first event in the world of its kind, with more and more following suit, there has yet to be a pair of siblings win the same tournament in the same week, something it would take a brave punter to back against the Lee’s doing this month.

Minjee was among the most consistent performers on the LPGA Tour last year, recording a victory and eight other top-10s throughout 2019, the 23-year-old also a two-time past winner of the Vic Open in 2014 and 2018, claiming the title on both occasions at 13th Beach.

Min Woo, although yet to win, has shown he is rarely daunted by the big stage and will arrive full of confidence after finishing 2019 with a T3 at the Australian PGA Championship, having taken third on his own at the NSW Open two weeks earlier. The younger brother also finishing T6 at 13th Beach in 2017 when he fired the round of the day on the final day as an amateur.