Australian Min Woo Lee sealed his first title on the PGA Tour by winning the Texas Children’s Houston Open, on the par-70 Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston, Texas, with a 260 (66 64 63 67, -20) score. He beat Gary Woodland and Scottie Scheffler, world number one, by one shot, who finished second with a 261 (-19). In fourth place with a 263 (-17) was Finnish Sami Valimaki, and in fifth with a 265 (-15) were Wyndham Clark, Canadian Taylor Pendrith, Argentine Alejandro Tosti and Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, number 2 in the World Ranking, who was the big favorite along with Scheffler. In 11th place with a 268 (-12) was German Stephan Jaeger, the defending champion. Matteo Manassero finished in 39th place with a 273 (68 69 68 68, -7), while Francesco Molinari was cut, 128th with 142 (72 70, +2).
PGA Tour, results
Min Woo Lee, 26, from Perth, brother of proette Minjee Lee, previously achieved three successes on the DP World Tour, one on the Asian Tour and one on the PGA Tour of Australasia (net of one in combination with the continental circuit). Taken into the lead in the third round with a four-shot margin, he saw his opponents closing in, but managed to maintain the precious lead with a 67 (-3, four birdies, one bogey) compared to Woodland’s 62 (-8, one eagle, seven birdies, one bogey) and Scheffler’s 63 (-7, seven birdies).
Lee, the 38th Australian to climb to the top step of the podium on tour, set the lowest score of the tournament over 72 holes with 260 (-20), surpassing Tony Finau’s 264 (-16) in 2022, and also his personal best. For the title he received a check for 1,710,000 dollars on a prize pool of 9,500,000 dollars, rising from 55th to 22nd in the world rankings and from 60th to 16th in the FedEx Cup rankings.
Matteo Manassero, 31 years old from Negrar di Valpolicella (VR), was very consistent and concluded the competition with the third 68 (-2) in the four rounds with two birdies, without bogeys. The Venetian and Francesco Molinari will be busy from Thursday 3 April to Sunday 6 in the Valero Texas Open, at the TPC San Antonio (Oaks Course) in Texas.
