Min Woo Lee has the tools to be the best golfer in the world according to Jason Day if he applies himself

Former world number one Jason Day believes fellow Aussie Min Woo Lee has the tools and mental capacity to be world number one, but says he will have to work to make the next step.

Jason Day says Min Woo Lee can become the world’s best player - but only if he’s prepared to make “a lifestyle change”.

Day was one of the first people Lee thanked after his breakthrough PGA Tour win in Texas last week.

“With Min, it’s all up to him if he wants to get to No. 1 and to that next level,” Day said at Augusta on Tuesday.

“Obviously there is work ethic and that desire to become No.1 in the world.

“That’s just … a lifestyle change he has to understand. I know that he has the tools and the mental side to do it because he loves the moment, and that’s something that you cannot teach golfers in general, to love being in that moment and under the most stress.

For the first time, the only place to watch the Masters live is Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.

Min Woo Lee after winning the Houston Open - his first win on the PGA Tour. Picture: Kenneth Richmond / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

“If he can really enjoy that and just improve over time, he’ll probably be our next No. 1.”

Day, 37, revealed his campaign to get Lee to better appreciate the mental side of golf started at last year’s Paris Olympics.

“We got to spend a lot of time together,” Day said.

“Karrie Webb was a huge part of that. In my mind I’m like, okay, if I can chat to Karrie about this stuff and he -- because Karrie is all-time great from Australia … just hearing what she did, how she went about things, her mentality, and it kind of (started) rubbing off onto Min.

“Even though it wasn’t directed towards him, I wanted to let him hear, hey, this is what she did, this is what I did. A lot of these other guys did. Knowing that it is a lifestyle change. “When you want to be No. 1 everything has to be in order. Certain sacrifices need to happen. “But when you do that and you’re trying to achieve greatness there is only a certain amount of people that can sit on that perch. It’s nice to look back and say, I accomplished that.

Jason Day (left), Min Woo Lee (right) and Karrie Webb (centre) along with Luke Reardon, and Stuart Davidson at the Olympics in Paris in 2024. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images

“I’ve known Min since he was 16, 17 years old. Super talented kid. He’s got -- just got the world at his feet right now.”

Day, who has climbed back to no.36 in the world, said his own game was “solid” ahead of his 14th Masters appearance.

A four-time top 10 finisher at Augusta, Day admitted he often pondered his missed opportunity to win a green jacket in 2013.

“I think about it all the time,” he said.

“Three holes left. One-shot lead coming down the stretch .. then bogeyed 16, bogeyed 17. (But) I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything because that really taught me a lot about how to be able to handle the pressure and the stress.”

Day, Lee and fellow Australian Cameron Smith played a practice round together at Augusta on Tuesday.

“Scotty (Adam Scott) said he was jammed up,” Day said.

“It’s understandable because (he’s) got the Champion’s dinner tonight. “It’s kind of like a yearly thing when we play Augusta, but this year it was just us three.”

Originally published as Min Woo Lee has the tools to be the best golfer in the world according to Jason Day if he applies himself