Our very own West Australian Min Woo Lee has won the 2021 abrdn Scottish Open in an exciting playoff at the Renaissance Club.
Min, who will be 23 next week, a member of Royal Fremantle Golf Club shot a final round of 64 to reach 18 under and leave himself with the challenge of a three way play-off against Belgian Thomas Detry, and Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick.
The day belonged to one man…#abrdnScottishOpen #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/Bm0D8xCMXc
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) July 11, 2021
Min cooly fired a brilliant approach shot into eight feet from the pin, making the winning putt for birdie to secure the Championship title and a place in his first Open at Royal St George’s this week. This is Min’s second European title win and his first Rolex Series. He will take home a tidy sum, and importantly climb inside the top 70 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
We knew the time was coming,” said Lee. “My game was trending a lot leading up to this. It’s just crazy. I’ve kind of dreamt of it last night and people back home staying up late to watch me, sending messages. This one is for you too! I owe it to my family. I owe it to my coach Ritchie back home. Just my friends and family. I’ve got such good support back home and on social media. I can’t wait to talk to them.
Green-side watching Min this week was talented Joondalup Amateur Josh Greer who has been competing in a range of Scottish Amateur tournaments . With socials posted of Min’s incredible putts dropping late into the night, “here comes Minny” being the theme, it was clear our local WA superstar was building up to something big.
Josh shared, “seeing Min win this has been incredible. He is a great mate and it inspiring to know we can get from those practice greens at home to this level of success.”
Royal Fremantle management team shared, “A fantastic win Min! The whole club is so proud of him and next week the opportunity to play in his first Major. From Royal Fremantle to Royal St George’s – we are thrilled for him. We have all seen the time and commitment Min has put in at the club to preparing himself for this success. The hard work has paid off and we wish him every success in the week ahead.”
Fellow club mate, and reigning WA Amateur Champion Hayden Hopewell is currently competing in the US sent his congratulations to his great mate.
It is so good to see one of my best mates winning at that level and beating so many greats in the game. What a moment for him, and I’m totally stoked for him to play in The Open. It is inspiring to see someone from my home club winning. We train together regularly and it gives me hope that another boy from WA could be on the podium like Min. Congratulations Min – can’t wait to see what the future brings!
Min started the final round three shots back, making his first birdie on the third, par-5, his first of six consecutive birdies finishing his front nine in an astonishing 30 strokes. Min birdied the par-5 16th to take the outright lead, but finished his birdie putt short on the 72nd hole to meet Detry and Fitzpatrick in the playoff.
Min’s tremendous win follows the triumphs of four Australians — Lucas Herbert, Cam Davis, Steph Kyriacou — on world tours, and Perth’s own Kirsten Rudgeley securing the prestigious Helen Holm Scottish Amateur title this month. Fellow Australian Wade Ormsby who was competing alongside Min, made a hole in one on the par-3 12th, winning 204 bottles of whisky.
All this golfing success coupled with the Barty parties are welcome headlines for all Australians. It is great to see so much positive news and the talent emerging from our WA Golf Clubs and the GolfWA High performance programmes progressing to the big time.
Bring on The Open!
Watch below for highlights of Min Woo’s huge win!
