Min Woo Lee survives late scare and controversy to claim first PGA Tour win

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Min Woo Lee says he's proud of how he handled the moment after he survived a late scare to defeat Scottie Scheffler and Gary Woodland by one stroke and clinch his first PGA Tour title. 

Lee took control of the Texas Children's Houston Open on Saturday with a scintillating 7-under 63 and went into the final round at Memorial Park Golf Course with a four-shot lead. 

The 26-year-old expanded that advantage to five early on Sunday but a flurry of birdies from the reigning Masters champion and Woodland down the stretch piled on the pressure.

Lee also put himself into a world of trouble after finding the water with his tee shot at the par-5 16th. 

He managed to escape the hole with a bogey and went to the 72nd hole with a one-shot lead.

Minutes earlier, Scheffler returned a card for 63 to post 19-under. 

Woodland finished eagle-par-birdie to reach the same total as the reigning Masters champion.

Lee didn't make it easy for himself on the final hole after he pulled his tee shot into the left rough. 

From there, his approach went through the green. Still, he managed to two-putt from 54 feet to secure his first title.

"It's hard, really hard," Lee told Golf Channel's Kira Dixon after securing the win. 

"Scottie is a wonderful golfer and he keeps you on your toes.

"This is my first time being in front and trying to hold a lead. I'm glad I got it done, but man, I'm just very exhausted.

"It was a lot of mental grind. I'm so proud of the way I handled myself."

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy produced an impressive final round to record yet another top-10.

McIlroy almost missed the cut here but surged up the leaderboard on Saturday and Sunday.

He told reporters that his long-time swing coach Michael Bannon is flying in tomorrow for one more week of prep before heading to Augusta National for the 2025 Masters.

McIlroy also confirmed that he has tweaked the loft on his driver.

"It was a good week," said McIlroy, who is hoping to complete a career Grand Slam by winning the Masters at Augusta next month.

"I still feel like I've got some stuff to work on. Overall, a solid week and nice to have another week to get ready and fine tune my game for Augusta.

"My right elbow has been bothering me a little bit so [I'll] maybe just get some treatment on that to make sure it's OK going into Augusta."

Lee also appeared to rub his playing partner Alejandro Tosti the wrong way over his pace of play during Sunday's round. 

The Aussie hit his tee shot into a bush on the par-5 8th and took an age to decide whether to take a drop or try and play the shot from his knees. 

After a protracted back-and-forth with his caddie Bo Martin, Lee decided to take a drop. 

He escaped the hole with a par but when he trudged off the green it had taken the group of Lee, Tosti and Ryan Fox 30 minutes to complete the hole. 

Tosti reportedly confronted a rules official about what transpired then staged a protest of his own. 

Legendary caddie turned on-course commentator Jim 'Bones' Mackay couldn't believe his eyes.