Weekend: Min Woo Lee Wins In Houston
Aussie nearly loses a big lead but is a player to monitor in Augusta-if he can play faster. Plus, Kim wins on the LPGA Tour, ANWA Preview, Jack prevails over Howard, improving Masters weather.
Min Woo Lee turned a runaway into a terrific final round at the Texas Children’s Hospital Open. He had help from Gary Woodland, Scottie Scheffler, and Sami Kalimaki.
Despite “only” posting a three-under-par 67 and lamenting the lack of sleep caused by quick turnarounds, Lee overcame a disastrous tee shot at the 16th to fulfill his emerging promise in taming Memorial Park. The 26-year-old needed only 104 putts for the week (23-27-27-27), while draining a whopping 346’9” feet of putts according to ShotLink.
Normally, that putting performance would vault anyone up the Masters favorites list. But as Augusta National has put more premium on driving accuracy in the last two decades, Lee’s work off the tee will need to get better. He hit just 22 of 52 fairways to finish T64 and rank 42nd in Strokes Gained Off the Tee.
“I think I did a pretty good job for the majority of it to hit it on the right side, on the correct side,” he said of his driving at Memorial Park. “I guess it's not textbook, but it's one of those golf courses where you can, and that's why I did play.”
Lee also revealed his surprise at learning that his “team” originally entered him in the Houston event.
“I didn't know [if] I was going to play a couple events after the Masters, so it was one of those to add in,” he said. “At the time, when I got told I was playing, I wasn't very happy—but I'm very glad that my team put me in this event.”
Just spitballing here, do today’s players get told when to use the restroom by the team leader? When to shave?
Anyway, Lee records his first PGA Tour win in 56 career starts. He also records the low 72-hole score at the Texas Children’s Houston Open and continues a strong start to the year for non-Americans. Nine of the 14 PGA Tour events this season have been won by international players.
Lee had qualified for the Masters via his year-end world ranking of 49th. He has played nicely in three starts at Augusta National with a T14 in 2022, a missed cut in 2023, and a T22 last year. He is projected to move from No. 55 to No. 22 in the Official World Golf Ranking, his first time inside the top 25.
Lee'll have to play faster since The Masters is the major most likely to tell an invitee to pick up the pace. Nicely. On Sunday, playing partner Alejandro Tosti resorted to unfortunate passive-aggressive tactics when the group took 30 minutes to play the eighth hole. Lee also jokingly AimPointed his eight-inch putt at 18 after taking two minutes and forty seconds to play his approach. The humor might have landed if he played at a remotely reasonable clip.
If Lee wants to join sister Minjee as a major champion, Min Woo will need to hope he does not receive a late-early tee time.
He complained about the quick turnaround from Friday to Saturday round in Houston."I don't know if it's controversial, but I talked to my fellow friends and we finished at 8 last night and we have to wake up at 5,” he said. “The time from you to get off the course to have dinner, to go into your bed, you only have like five, six hours of sleep, so it's not really healthy, I'd say."
Well that’s where signature event dining helps pick up the lack of sleep slack.
Also…
Scottie Scheffler tied the course record with a second-round 62 and closed with a 63 Sunday at Memorial Park. Other than hitting just 35 of 52 fairways, every part of the defending Masters champion’s game looks to be in solid form. Scheffler ranked sixth in strokes gained putting with 112 putts and 319’5” of putts made.
Gary Woodland’s runner-up finish was his best since winning the 2019 U.S. Open. His final round 62 was the lowest round he’s posted on the PGA Tour since 2018. In his best play since making an incredible post-brain surgery comeback, Woodland gained nearly nine strokes on the field by taking only 104 putts for the week while making 367 feet of putts.
Players who qualified for the Masters Tournament via top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking: No. 28 J.J. Spaun, No. 41 Daniel Berger, No. 42 Stephan Jaeger and No. 50 Michael Kim.
Despite projections suggesting Ben Griffin needed a top 28, a final round 65 and T18 left him barely outside of the top 50 cutoff.
Third-place finisher Sami Valimaki of Finland posted 126 for the weekend (64-62), the lowest 36-hole total in tournament history.
Wyndham Clark posted rounds of 64-64 on the weekend to finish T5 with Taylor Pendrith and Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy shot 65-64 on the weekend after tweaking his driver setup Saturday. Despite the strong finish heading into the first major of 2025, he suggested his elbow has been hurting and will be a priority to get rested and ready for the Masters. “Get some treatment on that,” he said, “and make sure that that’s O.K. going into Augusta.”
A fun fact learned during Sunday’s final round: turtles do not like to be picked up and they have gigantic bladders to prove it.
Also…
Hyo Joo Kim birdied the first hole of sudden death to beat Lilia Vu in the Ford Championship Presented by Wild Horse Pass. Vu, the two-time major winner from UCLA who is working her way back into elite form after back issues last year, held a two-stroke lead over Charley Hull going into Sunday’s final round at Whirlwind Golf Club. But Kim’s final round 64 forced Vu to make a six-footer just to head back to the 18th tee. With the sun setting and not much time left to go another hole, Kim (69-66-67-64-266) sank a seven-footer for her seventh LPGA victory and 21st worldwide as a professional, including the 2014 Amundi-Evian.
Eugenio Chacarra earned his maiden DP World Tour victory with a two-stroke win in the Hero Indian Open at DLF Golf and Country Club, which in no way is affiliated with DFL Golf and Country Club. Chacarra overcame a first-hole double-bogey to hold off Keita Nakajima with a final round 71. It’s the second straight week Japan’s Nakajima finished second. As for Chacarra, the 25-year-old former Oklahoma State star once rose to No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking but took a LIV payday to play for Sergio Garcia’s Great Brats of Fire. “I think I did a great job all week of staying patient and I know God was helping me today,” Chacarra said. “I got a couple of good bounces, including that chip on 14. I got some luck that you need to win but very proud. This course is so tough and at times the wind changed a little on me. I felt like I played well all week and things went my way today.”
12 players in this week’s LIV event at Trump Doral are also in the Masters.
LIV released a trailer for an upcoming docuseries featuring various overpaid types doubling down on aggrievement and victimhood. Or, maybe they’re just trying to make Full Swing season three seem watchable! (Vicenzi/SI.com)
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A native of Farnham, England, Woad was the first European to win who went on to finish the season at Florida State earning All-American and ACC Golfer of the Year honors. She’s continued to play well in 2025, finishing in the top 10 of every event she's played and recorded one win.