Masters debut on Min Woo Lee’s mind

Murray Wenzel |

Min Woo Lee will return to Pebble Beach next month and is already plotting his Masters debut after starting his golf year in Brisbane.

The new world No.49 finished with a flourish in the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland on Sunday, almost holing out his approach to the 18th green.

The Perth talent finished tied for fourth at nine-under, behind record-setting winner Jed Morgan (22-under).

A full-fledged European Tour member, Scottish Open champion Lee will prioritise US events this year as he attempts to earn full-time PGA Tour status there.

“I didn’t know what I was going to do this week, but my approach play, I kind of just started where I left off, so it was really good,” he said.

“Hopefully I can keep it going, keep fresh for the next few weeks.”

Lee will play the Abu Dhabi Championship before heading to Pebble Beach in California, where he made his PGA Tour debut last year.

The Masters in April waits, Lee’s Scottish Open win helping him edge inside the top 50 to secure his debut at the fabled event.

Asked earlier in the week what his advice was for the Masters rookie, 2006 US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy recommended an early visit to Augusta National to avoid any stage fright.

Lee had tapped the brains of Jason Day before his Pebble Beach appearance and plans to follow Ogilvy’s lead this year.

“I’ll definitely go there and have a hit … my coach has been there and he said there’s a lot of the sneaky spots out there that you just don’t know and you need a professional caddy from Augusta to show you around,” he said.

“So I’ll look forward to that.

“It’s a golf course and you’ve still got to hit your shots but I’m definitely going to soak it in when I can, because all these courses are going to be pretty new to me, so I’m still going to embrace it.”

Huge galleries turned out to watch Lee, who along with Ogilvy was the Brisbane drawcard in the absence of the US-based stars.

“It was amazing to have so many people out when I wasn’t leading or anything,” he said.

“There was hundreds of people watching and it hasn’t usually been my crowd, so it was nice to have them out and supporting me.”

The Australian PGA Championship will be contested again in its usual timeslot later this year, with $2 million up for grabs in its return to Europe’s DP World Tour schedule.

AAP