“Let him cook” is one of the catch phrases fans of Min Woo Lee like to repeat. The 26-year-old Aussie has developed quite the following on social media, thanks in part to his gregarious personality, not to mention his impressively powerful swing. He averages 315.8 yards off the tee this year, third best in 2025 and impressive for a man who weighs a mere 165 pounds.
That power has been on display this week at Memorial Park, where Lee holds a four-shot edge heading into the final round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open, propelled by a career-best seven-under 63 on Saturday. In search of his first PGA Tour victory (to go with three on the DP World Tour), Lee is certainly cooking as he holds a 54-hole lead for the first time in 56 starts on tour.
Working in Lee’s favor as he aims to claim the $1.71 million first-place prize money payout is the fact that over the last 10 years, 80.6 percent of players who had four-shot leads went on to close out the tournament (25 of 31, according to stats guru Justin Ray). Additionally, Lee’s closest pursuers are also seeking their first PGA Tour titles: Alejandro Tosti of Argentina in second place with Ryan Fox and Ryan Gerard five back in a tie for third.
Lee’s 17-under 193 is the best 54-hole score in Houston Open history and one shot off the best 54-hole number so far in the 2025 season.
If there’s a lurking presence to give Lee something to sweat heading into Sunday, it’s the third golfer who has to make up five shots: Scottie Scheffler. The World No. 1 is playing in his final event before he returns to Augusta to defend his Masters title.
The overall purse in Houston is $9.5 million. Here’s the prize money payouts for each golfer who made the cut this week. Come back shortly after the tournament and we’ll update this with names and individual paydays.
Win: $1,710,000
2: $1,035,500
3: $655,500
4: $465,500
5: $389,500
6: $344,375
7: $320,625
8: $296,875
9: $277,875
10: $258,875
Keyur Khamar false Public Memorial Park Golf Course Houston, TX 3.9 8 Panelists A significant renovation was completed by Tom Doak (in collaboration with Brooks Koepka) to transform the old municipal course at Memorial Park—which hosted the first Houston Open in 1947 and then again from 1951 through 1965—into a layout worthy of being a PGA Tour venue. Originally built in 1912 at a hospital near Camp Logan for recovering soldiers to use, architect John Bredemus redesigned the course in 1935 and added a second nine. Now with signature Doak green complexes and tour-level conditioning, Memorial Park is once again a must-play in the state and averages 60,000 rounds a year. View Course
11: $239,875
12: $220,875
13: $201,875
14: $182,875
15: $173,375
16: $163,875
17: $154,375
18: $144,875
19: $135,375
20: $125,875
21: $116,375
22: $106,875
23: $99,275
24: $91,675
25: $84,075
26: $76,475
27: $73,625
28: $70,775
29: $67,925
30: $65,075
31: $62,225
32: $59,375
33: $56,525
34: $54,150
35: $51,775
36: $49,400
37: $47,025
38: $45,125
39: $43,225
40: $41,325
41: $39,425
42: $37,525
43: $35,625
44: $33,725
45: $31,825
46: $29,925
47: $28,025
48: $26,505
49: $25,175
50: $24,415
51: $23,845
52: $23,275
53: $22,895
54: $22,515
55: $22,325
56: $22,135
57: $21,945
58: $21,775
59: $21,565
60: $21,375
61: $21,185
62: $20,995
63: $20,805
64: $20,615
65: $20,425
66: $20,235
67: $20,045
68: $19,855
69: $19,665
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
