HOUSTON — Min Woo Lee fired a 7-under 63 on Saturday to build a commanding four-shot lead at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, putting the 26-year-old Australian in prime position for his first PGA Tour victory.
Lee turned what had been a tight leaderboard into a one-man show with a spectacular run around the turn at Memorial Park. He’s now at 17-under 193 through three rounds, leaving world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and the rest of the field struggling to keep pace.
“Everything’s kind of clicking and I just feel really good about it,” Lee said.
Name
Events
Top 10
Money
Min Woo Lee
49
6
$5,782,162
Scheffler, who began the day with a one-shot advantage, couldn’t find his rhythm and posted a pedestrian 69. He made birdies only on the par 5s while missing several makeable par putts, leaving him five shots back heading into Sunday.
Alejandro Tosti of Argentina sits alone in second after a 65, giving him another chance at contention after nearly winning this event last year. Scheffler shares third at 12-under with Ryan Fox (65) and Ryan Gerard (68), while Rory McIlroy posted a 66 that included a late eagle to reach 9-under.
Lee, the younger brother of LPGA major champion Minjee Lee, seized control with a stunning display of precision. His tee shot on the par-3 ninth missed an ace by inches, followed by a 12-foot birdie at 10 and an approach to 5 feet on the 12th. During one stretch, he one-putted eight consecutive greens.
The momentum shift began at the sixth hole when Lee, nicknamed “Dr. Chipinski” for his short-game prowess, holed a chip shot to take a one-shot lead over Scheffler. He never looked back.
“I feel like yesterday I holed a bunch of putts,” said Scheffler, who shot 62 in the second round. “Today I feel like I couldn’t get the ball to go in the hole.”
Lee’s lead stretched to as many as six shots before a three-putt par on the reachable par-5 16th and a challenging tee shot on the drivable 17th that led to another par. Still, he maintained a comfortable cushion heading into Sunday’s final round.
It was an especially long day for Lee, who had to return early Saturday morning to complete his rain-delayed second round before playing the full third round with Scheffler and Taylor Pendrith.
“I need to get back into bed,” Lee said, noting he’d slept only five or six hours. “But maybe that’s what I have to do. I might have to do two warm-ups, two physio sessions and maybe I can shoot 7 under all the time. No, it was great fun and very solid overall.”
While Lee already has his Masters invitation secured from being in the top 50 in the world at the end of last year, Sunday’s final round has major implications for Michael Kim and Ben Griffin. Both players are just outside the top 50 in the world rankings, with the Masters cutoff coming after this event. Kim (T-29) appears positioned to crack the top 50, while Griffin (T-41) needs a strong Sunday finish to earn his first trip to Augusta National.
Lee, who has three DP World Tour titles and one Asian Tour victory, now stands 18 holes away from adding a PGA Tour trophy to his collection.
