The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is arguably golf’s greatest theatre, a course purpose-built to showcase the game’s best on 18 separate stages.

Already a two-time DP World Tour winner with a growing social media presence when he made his PLAYERS debut in 2023, Lee generated an instant US fan base when he played his way into the final group on Sunday alongside world No.1 Scottie Scheffler.

Watch golf live and on-demand on Kayo

That shot of celebrity spawned the ‘Let him cook’ tagline that has become his signature, sparking crazy scenes at home in Australia and, more recently, the WM Open in Phoenix.

When he tees off at 11:02pm AEDT tonight, the crowds at TPC Sawgrass will be well versed in Min Woo-mania, and the 25-year-old intends to put on a show.

“I play well in front of a crowd, especially when they’re supporting me,” said Lee.

“It’s a big tournament but I play my best when I’m playing with the crowd and playing good golf.”

Rather than running out for an AFL or NRL grand final, Lee says that the excitement of playing in the final group at THE PLAYERS builds to a crescendo.

As you navigate the par-5 16th, the energy from golf’s most debated hole – the par-3 17th – seeps out of the grandstands and off the hill overflowing with fans.

The tee shot might be the most nerve-jangling in the sport, Lee showing the thousands surrounding the island green and millions of golf fans around the world that he is built for the moment.

“I don’t know what it’s like to walk out for an AFL Grand Final but I feel like it would be something like that,” said Lee, who finished sixth on debut.

“It’s more going around 16, 17, 18. It’s pretty special to have that environment. There’s a lot of people on 17 around the hill and in the grandstands.

“It’s a special feeling. A feeling of like a pat on the back, that you’ve done really well to get to this situation and a lot of people are supporting you.

“Playing in the final group on the Sunday, it was kind of my first time so it was nice to be out there and have the crowd with me I guess, have a bit of an underdog feel.

“A lot of good stuff has happened since then and really excited for this week.”

🏌️‍♂️ Adam Scott
🏌️‍♂️ Min Woo Lee
🏌️‍♂️ Jason Day

Whose swing are you taking? https://t.co/CCHOJIWvSF pic.twitter.com/IhUJYDbxHb

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 12, 2024

To enhance his chances of a maiden PGA TOUR title this week, Lee played a practice round with fellow Aussies and former PLAYERS champions, Adam Scott and Jason Day.

They have gone from heroes to contemporaries and friends, priceless sources of information for a young player with the highest aspirations in the sport, even if he does play his second shots from slightly ahead of them.

“I would say 10 yards. Not too far,” Lee said with a smile of his advantage off the tee.

“Being friends with them, I can text them and see if they want to play and usually they say yes.

“It is awesome. I feel like I’ve talked about them and watched a lot of YouTube videos of them but the last 5-10 years when I was growing up, I really did look up to them.

“They obviously played amazing golf in the past century so it’s very cool to have them as a friend.”

Lee, Scott and Day will be joined by Cam Davis and Aaron Baddeley in seeking to add to Australia’s success at THE PLAYERS, Ryan Fox trying to become the first Kiwi since Craig Perks in 2002 to win at TPC Sawgrass.

Elsewhere this week there are 15 Aussies teeing it up at the International Series Macau on the Asian Tour and three at the Epson Tour’s IOA Golf Classic, the tournament Grace Kim won two years ago on her way to the LPGA Tour.

Photo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Round 1 tee times AEDT

PGA TOUR
THE PLAYERS Championship
TPC Sawgrass (Stadium Cse), Ponte Vedra Beach
11:02pm*         Joel Dahmen, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Min Woo Lee
11:13pm*         Jason Day, Si Woo Kim, Matt Kuchar
11:46pm*         Ludvig Åberg, Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott
12:19am*         CT Pan, Kevin Streelman, Ryan Fox (NZ)
4:07am            Cam Davis, Sam Ryder, Stephan Jaeger
5:24am*           Aaron Baddeley, Ben Griffin, Davis Thompson

Defending champion: Scottie Scheffler
Past Aussie winners: Steve Elkington (1991, 1997), Greg Norman (1994), Adam Scott (2004), Jason Day (2016), Cameron Smith (2022)
Prize money: $US25 million
TV times: Live 11:30pm-10am Thursday, Friday; Live 1am-10am Saturday; Live 12am-9am Monday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.

Asian Tour
International Series Macau
Macau Golf and Country Club, Macau
10:05am*         Scott Hend, Jazz Janewattananond, Ian Poulter
10:25am*         Andy Ogletree, Mito Pereira, Wade Ormsby
10:40am          Chang Wei-lun, Ben Leong, Marcus Fraser
11:05am*         Sarit Suwannarut, John Catlin, Danny Lee (NZ)
11:10am          Andrew Dodt, Hung Chien-yao, Michael Maguire
11:20am          Michael Hendry (NZ), Neil Schietekat, Jeongwoo Ham
11:35am*         Mingyu Cho, Jed Morgan, Koh Deng Shan
11:45am*         Aaron Wilkin, Ye Wocheng, Jared Du Toit
2:50pm*          Maverick Antcliff, Justin Harding, Kalle Samooja
2:55pm            Denwit Boriboonsub, Travis Smyth, Jason Kokrak
3:05pm            Nitithorn Thippong, Ben Campbell (NZ), Takumi Kanaya
3:25pm            Lucas Herbert, Phachara Khongwatmai, Sergio Garcia
3:30pm*          Ian Snyman, Rattanon Wannasrichan, Todd Sinnott
3:45pm            Sanghyun Park, Brendan Jones, Trevor Simsby
3:50pm*          Rashid Khan, Seungtaek Lee, Zach Murray
4:05pm            Chikkarangappa S, Steve Lewton, Kevin Yuan
4:10pm*          Yeongsu Kim, Settee Prakongvech, Deyen Lawson
4:15pm            Justin Warren, William Harrold, Kristoffer Broberg

Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US2 million
TV times: Live 4:30pm-8:30pm Thursday, Friday on Fox Sports 503; Live 3pm-7pm Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 507 and Kayo.

Epson Tour
IOA Golf Classic
Alaqua Country Club, Longwood, Florida
11:11pm*         Brianna Do, Irene Kim, Fiona Xu (NZ)
11:22pm*         Amy Chu, Mara King, Tristyn Nowlin
11:44pm*         Julie Aime, Amelia Garvey (NZ), Amy Lee
4:34am            Jenny Bae, Cassie Porter, Michelle Zhang
5:07am*           Vivian Hou, Amelia Lewis, Su Oh

Defending champion: Jenny Coleman
Past Aussie winners: Grace Kim (2022)
Prize money: $US200,000