B BODY / SWING ANALYSIS
STRETCH OUT YOUR DRIVES Min Woo Lee’s width is key to his prodigious length By Luke Kerr-Dineen
THE PGA TOUR DOESN’T HAVE weight classes, but if it did, Min Woo Lee would be near
thought it was a boring old-men’s sport where you have to wear long pants,” he says. But that served as a blessing in disguise for his golf swing. Lee spent the early part of his youth playing soccer, Australian rules football, and lifting weights. It helped build strength in his developing upper and lower body. When he did finally catch the golf bug at age 15, it was in part because of how much fun he had hitting the ball far. “I always played with older people,” says Lee, the winner of three DP World Tour titles, including the 2021 Scottish Open, now an official PGA Tour event. “I wanted to hit it as far as them.”
the top of its weight-for-weight rankings. Lee, 25, weighs 70 kilograms, yet consistently ranks among the leaders in driving distance. Last year, as a PGA Tour rookie, he averaged 316.5 yards (289 metres). Through 13 tournaments this season, he was averaging 314.5 yards and an incredible 302 kilometres per hour in ball speed. At slightly more than four metres per kilogram, few players squeeze more out of their lean frame. Yet golf wasn’t Lee’s first love. “I
PHOTOGRAPHS BY DOM FURORE
100 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JULY/AUGUST 2024
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