He is one of social media’s favourite golfers but Min Woo Lee wants to show his fans fewer miraculous moments as he tries to defend his Australian PGA crown at Royal Queensland this week.

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Fans should not panic as he promises that the Instagram and TikTok reels along with his shenanigans with the crowd are going nowhere, but he wants less one of the key reasons why he has developed a cult following at home and on the PGA Tour.

‘Dr. Chipinski’ is one of the nicknames the 26-year-old goes by on social media due to his freakish ability to chip the ball into the hole from around the green and greenside bunkers.

He did it three times in a round at this year’s US PGA Championship – one of men’s golf’s four majors – and had the Brisbane crowd in raptures last year when he pulled off his go to trick to make eagle at the par-5 ninth during the final round.

Lee wants to have a wedge in his hand less often however, as he has spent the past 12 months working hard to hit more greens.

The world number 48’s efforts have paid off with him only missing the cut in three of his 23 starts across the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the majors this year.

“I feel like my game is very close to being in contention again. I just haven’t really converted when I’ve needed to,” Lee said.

“Once aspect of the game I needed to get better at was my approach play and the last few months have kind of proven that the work my team has done has got there. Because I’m hitting it better, converting doesn’t seem as converting because I used to miss a lot of greens and make a lot of up and downs.

“But now I’m hitting greens, you’re obviously not going to hole every putt, but hopefully I can hit it closer and hole some putts.

“A win would have been amazing but I’ve had a very consistent year which is I think where I would have wanted to be when I first turned pro.

“There was a lot of fiery finishes but also a lot of missed cuts when I first turned pro. The last couple of years I’ve played a lot of weekends but not got myself into contention as much as I wanted to.”

Lee twice finished runner-up on the PGA Tour this year – one of which was to fellow Australian Cam Davis, who is also playing in Brisbane this week – as a breakthrough victory has so far eluded him in the United States.

His triumph at the Australian PGA last year followed by a third-place finish at the Australian Open a week later felt like an arrival party.

He has previously been a bit of a flash in the pan with stunning feats like shooting a record-equalling front nine 30 on Sunday at The Masters in 2022 but missing the cut in his first eight PGA Tour events.

There was now a new, electric Australian talent ready to win trophies, while it has not panned out that way in the twelve months since, it turns out that fortnight has been the launching pad to earning more pay checks week in, week out.

Consistently being there for the weekend action has also been pivotal to Lee’s crusade to freshen up the golf scene.

He boasts 615,000 followers on Instagram and another 322,600 on TikTok with videos showing off his incredible skills as well as his light-hearted side.

“I’m just trying to make the game cooler and fun. It can be kind of boring at times and kind of a gentleman’s sport. I’m trying to make it as fun as possible,” Lee said,

“There are a lot of kids who look up to me and that’s one of the things that drives me to play a lot of good golf.

“I grew up in that age where the phone is there all the time. Growing up with it, it’s first nature. It’s not different, it’s not weird to me.

“To other people, it’s kind of forced a little bit but I think I’m pretty real, and genuine, and natural.”

One thing that organically emerged from Lee’s social posts at last year’s Australian PGA was his fans wearing chef hats.

‘Let him cook’ became a tagline of Lee’s channels, and he even became swept up in the frenzy when trying to close out his victory.

On the par 3, 17th – the party hole – during the final round, he adorned a chef hat to wild celebrations from the crowd who showered their hero with love.

It was not the usual antics of a leader of a golf tournament, and even American Harry Higgs – who is playing in Brisbane this week and is best known for whipping his shirt off at the Phoenix Open’s party hole two years ago – said on Monday that Lee’s decision to do so was “bold”.

“I wouldn’t have done it if I had a one-shot lead, I had a few shots lead so I guess I was pretty comfortable and pretty confident,” Lee said with a laugh.

“That was the first week that the chef hats started coming out and I’ve seen it pretty much all year nearly at every tournament. It’s a cool movement and cool support that I’ve had.”

The antics could go to another level with $1 million up for grabs for members of the crowd at the party hole on the weekend if one of the player’s can make a hole-in-one.

“Harry would probably take his shirt off so I’d probably be along the same road. I might have to take my shirt off for whoever wins,” Lee said.

The West Australian’s positive attitude has received boost this week with Jason Day coming back to play in Australia for the first time since 2017.

The pair have become close this year as they represented Australia together at the Paris Olympic Games, and took part in the Presidents Cup in Canada – where Lee made his debut for the Internationals.

Day snuck out for a practice round at Royal Queensland early on Monday morning while Lee was on a plane back from the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai – where he finished tied 24th – and the former is eyeing a Sunday showdown with his mentor.

“Jason’s been a very good friend and a good role model in the last few months since Olympics and Presidents Cup. I’ve learned a lot from him,” Lee said.

“Just things that you would learn down the road. He’s telling me what he’s done over how many years he’s played with a lot of wisdom.

“He’s kind of a kid too, a lot of people wouldn’t know, but we like to have fun and enjoy our time.

“I want to learn golf and get my name to another level, and he’s there for me. When we’re out having dinners we can talk about anything. He’s a very good friend to me and it’s great to have him in Australia. Hopefully we get to play together. Hopefully he plays well and I play better.”

Royal Queensland was engulfed by a torrential downpour on Tuesday and more rain is expected on Wednesday.

Lee believes the wet conditions will favour a long bomber like him, but a side story of the coming week is that the course is the host venue for the golf competition for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games.

Brisbane could be Lee’s third Olympics if he continues on his current trajectory, but he has no clue whether or not a home Games will be on his radar.

“Eight years is a long time, I don’t know. It feels a long way away. I’ll be 34 so I don’t know,” he said.

“I might be like Jason and have like six kids running around.”

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