Post his title win in the Houston Open and his first PGA Tour title win, 26-year-old Australian golfer Min Woo Lee was congratulated by pop singer Justin Bieber. The Australian, who is famously called Dr Chipinski and ‘The Chef’ by his social media fans, was cheered on by Bieber on the social media app Instagram with 294 million followers of the famous singer getting to know about the latest golf sensation. It also led to fans hailing ‘The Chef’ and Dr Chipinski, both names given by Australian golf fans to Lee over his ability to convert tough putts on the golf course and comparing Lee to a last man standing player in online game Call of Duty. Lee edged out world No.1 Scottie Scheffler and Gary Woodland to win his first PGA Tour win and fourth professional win of his career on Sunday and had earlier talked about the origin of his nickname The Chef.
“’Let him cook’ is usually said when you’re playing COD (Call of Duty) in a five-vs-five-person game and one person is left. If someone’s in the background telling him what to do, someone else says, ‘No, just let him cook. Let him do his thing.” Lee had told Australia’s Golf Digest last year.
The 26-year-old, who himself has more than 700,000 followers, has been sharing his shots from off the greens on his Instagram account since his early days. On Sunday, Lee made par on the 18th hole with a putt just off the green to hold off Scheffler and Woodland to win by one stroke and pocketing 1.71 million US dollars as prize money. The Australian golfer, who posted on social media platform X a picture of him holding the trophy and with the caption ‘This one hits different’, did talk about his ability to convert tough putts. “I was freaking out inside. It was tough. Props to the guys who win week-in, week-out. It is very hard. I always felt like I had the assets to win. It was always: ‘can you do it mentally?. That’s why Sundays are so tough. You know people are creeping, and you know people are attacking. Now I know that’s what it takes,” Lee said post the win.
Lee, who turned professional in 2019, had earlier won the US Junior Amateur title, a title won by Tiger Woods three times in the past, in 2016. Lee won his first pro title with a win in the 2020 Handa Victoria Open. The following year, Lee won the Scottish Open before he won the Australian PGA Championships. It was during the Australian PGA Championships, that golf fans followed Lee for his rounds and chanted ‘Let him cook’ and came wearing T-shirts with the same slogan. When Lee won the Australian PGA title, the Australian golfer wore a white chef’s hat. Months later, during the Phoenix Open in February 2024, Lee’s apparel sponsors Lululemon provided fans with red chef’s hats with the phrase ‘Let him cook’.
On Sunday, Scheffler and Woodland needed to make a birdie each on the last hole to level Lee’s score of 20-under but both missed with Lee making the par with the tough putt. Lee also talked about his conversation with his sister and two-time major winner Minjee Lee post the win. “It looked like I was cool, but I didn’t want him to make birdie. That’s why (final rounds) are so tough. You know people are creeping and you know people are attacking. Post the win, my sister was the first one to pick up. I called my family, and my mum was crying as usual. Dad was very happy,” said Lee, who became the 38th Australian golfer to win a title on the PGA Tour.
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