His shirts are perhaps getting a “little tight” for his liking, but Min Woo Lee has made a concerted effort to bulk up to improve his game.
After a mixed year on the PGA Tour, the Perth-born star is ready to attack Australian golf’s two “majors” with renewed gusto.
“We all want to get our hands on the trophies,” Lee said ahead of this week’s Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland and next week’s Australian Open at Royal Melbourne.
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“It’s big part of playing these two events. I just want to play really good, solid golf, and hopefully I can give myself a chance on Sunday to get that trophy.”
Lee is no stranger to success at Royal Queensland, having won the Australian PGA two years again.
His title defence didn’t go to plan in November last year, with a knee injury hindering his golf.
What followed was an up and down 2025.
The highlight was winning on the PGA Tour for the first time when claimed victory at the Houston Open in March.
However, Lee failed to build on that success, with his best subsequent effort being a tie for fifth at the French Open in September.
“I just didn’t reset, didn’t write my goals, and kind of just kept playing,” the world No.46 said in reflecting on his year post-Houston.
“I felt like I was on high so that if I didn’t play well, I would still be happy with the win, but golf is so quick.
“You win, take a week off, and then the Masters is right there, and then you want to win that one, you want to win the next one, so (I was) a little result-orientated and not too process driven. That’s one thing I learned from this year.”
Lee also felt his hip movement in his swing was letting him down, and as a result, he has worked hard to get stronger.
“You see the best players in the world stack over their left side through impact, and with my swing through impact, my left hip was going backwards … so then my hands were getting too far forward, and I was getting a lot of shuffling,” he said.
“Now I’m trying to stack over on to my left side and get better with that. I’ve gained a lot of kilos just to get a bit stronger in that sense.
“I’m feeling good. The shirts are getting a little tight, not just the top, but the bottom. I did the bulk bit pretty good, but now I’ve probably got to cut a bit.”
Lee’s Australian PGA preparations included a relaxing few days at home in Perth and a visit to Optus Stadium to see Australia beat England in just two days in the opening Test of the Ashes series.
He was thrilled to see “golf tragic” Mitchell Starc, who took 10 wickets for the match, star with the ball.
“I had a feeling that he was going to be on fire, but not that hot,” Lee said.
Lee also backed Australian opener Usman Khawaja’s decision to play golf for three successive days before the first Test, despite the suggestion that it might have contributed to the veteran batsman’s back problems during the match.
“We don’t want him hurt, but you’ve got to have a balance between having fun and being outside, so hopefully that’s not the reason … but good on him. We all love golf,” Lee said.
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