Min Woo Lee is searching for back-to-back titles at the Texas Children’s Houston Open -Credit:Getty Images
(Getty Images)
Min Woo Lee returns to the Texas Children’s Houston Open as defending champion, hoping to bounce back after admittedly being ‘beat up’ by last year’s Signature Events.
Lee is seeking to become the second player to successfully defend a title at the Texas Children’s Houston Open since Vijay Singh in 2005, and the first to achieve the feat at Memorial Park Golf Course.
Last year he earned a one-stroke win over Gary Woodland and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, earning his first PGA Tour win in his 56th start. Lee has two top-10 finishes in 2026 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and said last year the signature events defeated him.
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“You always look back at the week and think that three-footer that I missed could have made a big difference towards the end of the year or stuff like that,” said Lee.
“I mean, yes, that’s something that you get feedback from, but you’ve just got to move on and do the best you can. Just consistent play. I mean, it was something with my coach and my team that I needed to do with my approach play especially. I thought that I was good enough to be out here and play, but the Signature Events beat me up last year. I needed to get a lot better and a lot more stable. A lot stronger, too.
“It was just a good period of time after the fall we really had to do something about my game. It’s starting to pay off now, which is great. It’s one of those moments where you don’t want to, but you just have to. We’re trying to play well in the Signature Events and the big events. It was all part of the plan, which is nice, and coming along good.”
Min Woo Lee admitted the signature events were incredibly difficult last season as the maiden PGA Tour winner searches for his second -Credit:Getty Images
The 27-year-old said his average finishes at signature events grew realization to be better. So far this year, he’s made every cut in each start and was waiting to be in a playoff against Collin Morikawa but the tour star pulled away.
“If you look at my average finish in the Signature Events, it was like 50th. Just not that good,” said Lee ahead of the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
“It was at a point where I’d rather not play the Signature Events and play well on courses that weren’t as tough. You play Bay Hill, you play any of the Signature Events, the rough was three, four inches long.
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“If you just missed the fairway by a yard, you’re hacking it out, which I thought was pretty tough. It penalizes longer hitters because we’re not as accurate. I kind of slowed down my swing to be a bit more accurate, which is hard because a lot of other sports, everyone evolves, right?
“And in golf it seemed like it went a little bit backwards. For me, I felt like I went backwards, which wasn’t I guess the right way. These young kids are hitting it long and pretty straight. You’ve just got to hit it straight at Signature Events.
“I mean, rough, we thought that it was — yeah, I mean, I guess everyone says the scores are too low, so then we have to make the rough really thick. But that gets away of a skill which kind of hurts me, which did hurt me. Like I said, it was a blessing playing well now and a lot more accurate, which is great.”