Ritchie Smith, the longtime swing coach of Min Woo Lee and his major-winning sister, Minjee, describes Min Woo as “a squiggle.” Whereas Minjee is a straight line – organised and disciplined – Min Woo is creative, playful and unpredictable. It makes sense then that Min Woo’s ascension to the PGA Tour was somewhat unexpected. “I didn’t necessarily love golf when I was younger,” Lee says. “I quit for a year when I was 11 because I thought it was a boring, old-man’s sport. I really liked soccer, Australian Rules football, taekwondo and lifting weights. I enjoyed them much more than golf.” It was only when Lee learned to crank up his driver speed and hit the ball longer than older kids that he started thinking about a future in the sport. He would quickly develop into one of the most exciting and athletic players in golf – one who ranked second on tour in ball speed on the 2024 PGA Tour (188 miles per hour) despite his lean, 75-kilogram frame. He also was in the top 10 in several more driving statistics including fourth in strokes gained/off the tee. “His awareness of how his body moves and what he can do with the golf ball is off the charts,” Smith says. Over the years, Lee and Smith have worked to harness that athleticism in an effort to create speed in a more stable way – the balance of horsepower and control. The rest of us might not have the physical gifts of Lee, but Smith says there’s still a lot anyone can learn and copy from this swing. On the following pages, they’ll show you. —LUKE KERR-DINEEN
100 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator