Jason Day thinks Min Woo Lee can be world No. 1

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Min Woo Lee broke into the top 25 in the world following his victory a couple weeks ago at the Houston Open, the long-awaited first on the PGA Tour for the big-hitting Australian who had won just about everywhere else around the world.

Jason Day thinks his fellow Aussie can climb even higher.

“It’s all up to him if he wants to get to No. 1,” said Day, who spent 51 weeks there starting in September 2015. "It’s a lifestyle change he has to understand. I know that he has the tools and the mental side to do it because he loves the moment, and that’s something you cannot teach golfers in general, to love being in that moment and under the most stress."

“If he can really enjoy that and just improve over time, he’ll be probably be our next No. 1,” Day added. "I’m going to take myself out of the conversation because that’s my goal as well. But he’s got the best chance to become No. 1 from Australia."

Greg Norman spent 331 weeks at No. 1 in the 1980s and '90s. Adam Scott spent 11 weeks there in 2014.

“I always felt like I had the assets to win, it was just can you do it mentally?” said Lee, who acknowledged that Day had helped in that regard — credit that Day in turn passed along to Karrie Webb, one of Australia's greatest players.

She had also passed along some advice to the 26-year-old Lee, who heads into this week's Masters having made the cut in two of his previous three appearances at Augusta National, including a tie for 22nd last year.

“I wanted him to hear, ‘Hey, this is what she did. This is what I did. A lot of these other guys did,’” Day explained. “When you want to be No. 1, everything has to be in order. Certain sacrifices need to happen. ... There is only a certain amount of people that can sit on that perch. It’s nice to look back and say, 'I accomplished that.'”

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