Australia’s Min Woo Lee has claimed his first title in more than two years with a superb two-shot wire-to-wire victory in the Macao Open.
The world No. 46 - the tournament’s marquee player - hit crushing drives and holed putt after putt to shoot an eight-under-par 63 on Sunday for a stunning four-round aggregate of 30-under.
That gave the 25-year-old a tournament record and was two short of the Asian Tour record, although preferred lies were played on the first two days.
Like Lee, Poom Saksansin shot a bogey-free 63 to finish second after a gripping last day duel between the big-hitting Australian and the tenacious Thai golfer, who was out to repeat one of his giant-killing acts of the past.
Lee started the day with a two-shot lead over Poom and the margin was the same at the turn after both brilliantly pulled away from the field with four birdies each.
The turning point came when Lee shot his second successive eagle three on the par-5 13th to open a four-stroke cushion as Poom carded a par.
A wild drive to the left on the par-four 15th from Lee gave Poom hope, but Lee's ball found a decent lie with a clear shot to the green and he was able to save par.
Poom rallied with birdies on the next two holes to close the gap to two heading to the par-5 18th, but could come no closer as both men made birdie.
“I love it,” said Lee, who opened with rounds of 62, 64 and 65, and carded just two bogeys all week en route to his first win since the Scottish Open in July, 2021.
“As soon as the week started I had a couple of days' rest because of the typhoon, and the course was looking amazing from the beginning. Obviously, it was pretty bad for a couple of days there, so it was props to the green keepers for keeping the course in such good condition.
“And yeah, I played wonderful, really flawless golf for a lot of the holes, there was only a few holes that I could really look back on. But yeah, I’m really proud of the way I handled myself.”
Lee’s score smashed the event’s previous lowest winning total of 20 under, set by Australian Scott Hend in 2015 and was just two short of the Asian Tour record, which Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat set at the SAIL Open in India in 2009, when he finished 32-under-par.
Pocketing $180,000 for the win, Lee paid tribute to his rival.
“Poom played unbelievable today. He’s a bad mofo!" Lee said. "He never left, he just stayed around. I tried my best and ended up on top, but he was giving it to me for the whole time.
