Lee proud of 'mental grind' after holding off Scheffler to win maiden PGA title

Lee had taken a four-shot lead into Sunday's fourth round and briefly saw that extend to five strokes at Memorial Park Golf Course, with three birdies in a five-hole stretch.

However, Scheffler kept the pressure on with a back-nine charge, getting birdies on five of the holes, and set the clubhouse target at 19-under, level with Gary Woodhouse, who equalled the course record of eight-under 62 on his final round.

Lee's lead had cut to one with a bogey on the 16th, but with a par on the last two holes, he carded a three-under 67 for the round to hold onto his one-shot victory.

"To be honest, I played unbelievable up until that bogey [16th]," Lee told Golf Channel.

"It's really hard. Obviously, Scottie is a wonderful golfer, and he keeps you on your toes. This is my first time kind of being in front and trying to hold a lead.

"I'm glad I obviously got it done, but man, I'm very exhausted. It was a lot of mental grind, and I'm so proud of how I handled myself."

Victory is served ‍@MinWoo27Lee wins his first PGA TOUR title @TCHouOpen! pic.twitter.com/am8WVp2plR

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 30, 2025

Sami Valimaki finished three strokes back in fourth, matching Woodland's 62 on Sunday, while Rory McIlroy was tied-fifth after an impressive finish moved him to 15-under in his final appearance before The Masters in April.

After making a slow start, McIlroy's title hopes looked effectively over, but he recovered brilliantly, and he believes he is in a good place to begin his preparation for Augusta.

"The last three days were really good," McIlroy told Golf Channel.

"I actually made a slight adjustment to my driver yesterday; I went to the range and took the loft off a little bit and definitely drove the ball better today. That was a positive, as was seeing some putts go in.

"As I went on during the week, I went better and better, as the score suggests. It was a good week. I still feel like I have some stuff to work on, but overall, a solid week, which is nice to fine-tune my game heading to Augusta.