Min Woo and Minjee Lee might use their sibling rivalry to drive their own golf ambitions but the brother-sister duo are ruing a missed opportunity to play alongside each other when they both represent Australia at the Paris Olympics.
The Lees will become just the 16th set of Australian siblings to appear in the same sport at the same Games when they join Jason Day and Hannah Green in the golf events outside of Paris. But rather than teaming up on the fairway, as they may be able to as part of a teams event in four years’ time, the pair will remain apart for now.
The schedule means the Lees might not even get to watch each other in action, with the men’s event running 1-4 August and the women’s 7-10 August. Both will have a couple of practice days before their stroke play event starts, but without any clear crossover with each other at Le Golf National and with other tournaments soon competing for their time.
“For the next Olympics, it seems they’re trying to incorporate some sort of teams event, which means we have to play pretty much two extra days on top of our regular tournament,” Minjee said. “But I do think with the nature of the Olympics, they should have some sort of team event, if they can incorporate it without having too much strain on the players.
“I would love for it to be a mixed team event, or teams that are girls or boys separately. But I don’t know how they would fit it in, so I guess it’s either-or.”
Min Woo backed his sister and said he would get an extra boost from an opportunity to partner Minjee, who won a major in 2021 and 2022 while rising as high as No 2 in the rankings.
“I think it would be cool even if it was one day, just to showcase who the best doubles partners are,” Min Woo said. “It would be special if we can play together. Anything we do as partners, brother and sister, it’s very special. My sister has been in every team event, so she’s just been waiting on me. I guess the time has come.”
Min Woo will appear at the Olympics for the first time after rising to No 31 in the official rankings to sit second-highest among Australian men, just three spots behind former world No 1 Day. Olympic selection for golfers is based on the world rankings in the lead up to the Games, and only the top two men and women are eligible to qualify from each country, up to a total of 60 competitors in each event.
Minjee was always likely to be offered a ticket to Paris as the world No 11 women’s golfer, while Green is currently ranked four places higher. This will be Minjee’s third Games, after finishing equal seventh in Rio 2016 and in the top 30 at Tokyo 2020, though the 28-year-old is expecting a different vibe this time around, especially with the Olympic Village in full swing.
While Minjee is two years older than Min Woo and has gone some way to showing him the path to success, she also looks to her brother for inspiration especially in how he approaches the game.
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“Min Woo is a little more creative and he has a bit more playfulness when he’s in training,” Minjee said. “He’s a bit more competitive outwardly. I tried that a little bit when practising but it doesn’t come to me as naturally as it does to him.
“As much as the fans give me encouragement and support me, I’d like to give some of that back through my personality. That is kind of a work in progress, but that’s sort of what I draw a little bit more from Min Woo and his personality and his game.”
Min Woo is now making his mark on the US PGA circuit, helped by a top-five in the US Open and a top-20 finish in the PGA Championship last year. While he is yet to break through for a victory in the US, and has expressed his frustration with being overlooked for some showpiece tournaments, Min Woo expects the Olympics to be as competitive as golf’s main events.
“It’s very high up there now,” Min Woo said. “Growing up, for swimming and track, the Olympics was the biggest thing. Golf is becoming that way. It’s maybe not like the Masters and the majors, but right behind it for sure.”
