Golf news: Min Woo Lee’s coach believes only Call of Duty could stand in the way of the games next star
After winning the Australian PGA Championship, Min Woo Lee is on his way to becoming the game’s next star – he just needs to steer clear of Call of Duty, says coach Ritchie Smith.
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Ritchie Smith is the man behind the golf swing that has taken charge of the Australian summer. Smith, one of the country’s most revered coaches, first came across Min Woo Lee more than a decade ago and banged his head against the wall for a few years before the kid got serious about his game.
Lee, he says, has always been wired a little different. His sister Minjee – favourite to win the women’s Australian Open this week – is the methodical member of the family.
Min Woo is more artistic, prone to flourishes of brilliance. Tell him what he can’t do and he will tell you why he can. Urge him to keep the ball closer to the ground for more control and Lee insists he would rather send it soaring and bring it down with flourishing spin.
Smith has never tried to change Lee’s personality or his style, just tinker with it. He knows it would be folly anyway. Lee can be the stubborn type.
Smith’s only real bugbear has been Lee’s affinity for Call of Duty, the computer game that has become a favourite for sporting stars across the globe.
“I remember this story,” Smith said.
“Call of Duty comes out and he goes my form is shit. This is like three years ago. I was like, ‘oh yeah, how long you been playing Call of Duty for?’
“He was like, ‘alright, four months’. I said, ‘how long has your form been shit for’. He goes, ‘four months’. I said, ‘do you reckon you need to play Call of Duty’.
“He was like, ‘probably not’. So he got rid of the Call of Duty and his form improved. He plays it now when he is not playing golf.”
It’s a common refrain with Lee. Super talented golfer, quirky personality, but prone to lose the plot when playing on his computer.
“For a big chunk of my life – from 15 to I would say 18 – Min Woo was like a little brother to me,” said good mate Curtis Luck, who first crossed paths with Lee a decade ago when they played junior golf together.
“He has always been very quirky. He has really not changed a whole lot when it comes to that stuff. He was always a lot of fun growing up.
“He has come and stayed in the house I share in America. He is easy to take care of. He likes to game on his computer in public spaces so quite often I am listening to him yell on his computer in the living room.
“Quite often I have to tell him to shut up.”
Lee has already made plenty of noise this summer. The 25-year-old, who grew up in Perth and has South Korean heritage, had the galleries swooning last week in Brisbane as he surged to victory in the Australian PGA.
He led them in a chorus of clapping in the 72nd hole but Smith goes out of his way to point out that Lee was just as vociferous the day before. In other words, the result didn’t dictate his emotions or reactions.
“I think that is his trademark – he is just who he is,” Smith said.
“In our sport everyone is taught to hide your emotions and fit inside a box. Fitting inside a box he doesn’t give a shit about.
“I think he is great. There are obviously threats with that too – if you are playing poorly you open yourself to ridicule. I don’t have a problem with it at all.
“Everyone thinks about the 18th (on the final day at the PGA) where everyone started clapping. Everyone forgets the 18th the day before he walked down the fairway slapping hands. He said at the end of it his hand was going numb.
“What if someone had grabbed his hand and squeezed it or done something stupid? He doesn’t think of that.”
Lee is an entertainer. Always has been, always will be. He had his playing partners eating out of the palm of his hand at The Australian Golf Club on Wednesday during the pro-am, played on the eve of the opening round of the Open.
He had a couple of mates in tow but he was more than happy to hand out advice to the corporates in his company.
On the 17th tee, he pulled aside one of them. “Just move your foot for me,” Lee said. The bloke then proceeded to stripe one down the middle.
He had some mock bets going with his pals who were along for the ride. One of his playing partners asked what was at stake. Lee joked: “You got a spare million.” They laughed and walked to the next hole.
He might have been having fun, but that’s the rarefied world he lives in now. Lee is on his way to becoming a bona fide star and the timing couldn’t be any better.
The PGA Tour, in response to the threat from LIV Golf, has started paying a bonus for not just performance, but attention brought to the tour.
This year, Rory McIlroy received a $22 million bonus. Tiger Woods was next best with $15 million. Lee, with his burgeoning social media presence, could command a hefty slice of the action. He is on his way to becoming one for the country’s richest sportspeople.
“There needs to be some entertainment value and I think it’s great that Min is that kind of personality that can feed off the crowd and he enjoys being a bit of a showman out there and he can perform doing that,” Adam Scott said.
“So, I think that’s fantastic for the game, for Australian golf. I think one of the things I see with Min is he likes the stage. So if he can get there a lot, he’ll be really successful.”
The money will come. It has already started. This week, however, his sole focus is on winning the Open for the first time and getting his name etched on the Stonehaven Cup.
“What he is – and he was always this – is a show pony,” Smith said.
“He has a very short attention span but he loves the attention he gets. Tiger is pretty flashy. Rory is pretty flashy, (Jon) Rahm is flashy. I think you have to have attitude and confidence and aggression. “He has all of those bits covered hasn’t he? We want him to be authentic and play the game as he sees it. His skillset is better than his sister.
“She sees things in a methodical way and he sees it really artistically – I will move it off this or run it around this.
“I can’t see the same shots as him. I will say what about this option and he will say I can play it, but it doesn’t give me the same sense of satisfaction, it doesn’t make me feel good about myself.”
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