Almost 13 years since turning professional as the No.1-ranked amateur in the world, Won Joon Lee will tee it up in this week’s CJ Cup at Nine Bridges courtesy of his breakthrough win earlier in the year on the KPGA Tour.

Joining PGA TOUR regulars Jason Day, Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith and Matt Jones, Lee is the only player from the KPGA to take up an exemption into the field at Jeju Island and completes a circuitous route to the elite of world golf.

Now 33 years of age and based in Korea playing primarily on the Japan Golf Tour, Lee notched the first win of his career in June at the KPGA Championship which has vaulted him into the field this week where he will tee it up in the first round alongside fellow Australian Matt Jones and Korean Whee Kim in the last group out from 12pm AEDT.

Although he is credited with one PGA TOUR appearance at the 2007 British Open where he was tied for 49th, this will be the first stand-alone PGA TOUR event of his career and completes a stunning turnaround having come close to quitting golf altogether.

“This is my 13th year as a pro but it feels a lot longer than that. It feels like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” Lee told the Inside the Ropes podcast following his win at the KPGA Championship and the expectation he carried early in his professional career.

“My first couple of years it really didn’t phase me and I didn’t think about it but as my career went along and I struggled to get where I wanted to go it started to get heavier and heavier.

“That was more than 10 years ago and looking back now it probably did put a lot of pressure on me without me knowing.”

Runner-up behind Craig Parry at the 2007 Australian Open, Lee moved to America in 2008 to link with legendary instructor Butch Harmon in Las Vegas but in five years on the secondary tour he failed to progress to the top echelon.

Wrist injuries and frustration conspired to inhibit Lee’s enjoyment for playing the game until he returned home to Sydney and reacquainted himself with the members at Ashlar and Concord golf clubs.

“As time progressed and I got hurt I hadn’t decided 100 per cent in my mind whether playing golf was going to be my future,” Lee revealed.

“After five years of playing (in America) I decided that the best move for me would be to move back to Sydney for a couple of years and see if I could regroup and play again.

“I didn’t play (professionally) for close to two years while I was in Sydney but just started playing club golf again with members at Ashlar and Concord and enjoyed playing golf again.

“Professionally, sometimes it is a battle but playing at a club level on the Wednesday and Saturday comps is actually really enjoyable.”

So highly regarded that Tiger Woods’ former coach Hank Haney once declared at a PGA seminar on the Sunshine Coast that, “Oh God, this guy’s as good as Tiger,” Lee turned to the nephew of his 2007 Australian Open conqueror for guidance over summer.

Childhood friends, Lee credits Matt Thomas with helping him to play a more consistent game in 2019 that has resulted in not only his first win but five more top-20 finishes and only two missed cuts in 18 starts.

“I was in Sydney from late December until after the New Zealand Open and Matt was helping me a lot out on the golf course with my golf swing,” Lee explained.

“Just trying to find fairways more consistently, hit greens more consistent and that’s actually helped me out a lot this year.

“I’ve kept the ball in play a lot more than in the past and not making too huge a mistake and while it doesn’t feel like I’ve played a lot better than last year the results have been a lot better.”

CJ Cup at Nine Bridges Round 1 tee times for Australasian players (AEDT)

10.10am*            Danny Lee, Vaughn Taylor, Jeongwoo Ham

10.20am*            Marc Leishman, Justin Thomas, Phil Mickelson

11.20am              Jason Day, Gary Woodland, Sungjae Im

12pm                    Cameron Smith, Viktor Hovland, Hyungjoon Lee

12pm*                  Matt Jones, Won Joon Lee, Whee Kim