Max

Lee

Lee was born in November 1994 in Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei and honed his skills at the Tao Yuan Golf & Country Club which houses the longest hole in the country, a 756-yard par-6 opener on its East Course.

Growing up in Chinese Taipei he played golf with friend and inspiration Kevin Yu (Yu Chun-an), who is also from Taoyuan and won his first PGA Tour title at the Sanderson Farms Championship last year.

Lee turned professional in 2015 and in his rookie season on the Asian Tour almost netted a first win at the Resorts World Manila Masters.

After two rounds at the Jack Nicklaus designed Manila Southwoods course in the Philippines, Lee was a joint leader at 10-under and eventually claimed T3 for the event and $56,500 in prize money.

In 2021, he won the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship but due to the Covid pandemic it had temporarily dropped its official Asian Tour status, becoming part of the Taiwan Tour.

It was still a notable achievement, Lee winning with a 16-under 272 to edge out Chan Shih-chang by one stroke. 

The following year the tournament regained its Asian Tour status and Lee was in contention again but finished runner-up to Australian Travis Smyth by two strokes.

There were six top-10 finishes in 2023, beginning with T2 at the Mandiri Indonesia Open in August. Lee then hit a rich vein of form to see the season out, with his remaining top-5 finishes occurring through the final six events of the year.

There was a special moment for Lee in June 2024 when he won the Sunflower Championship on the Taiwan PGA Tour.

Lee headed the field with an 8-under-par 280 to top the leaderboard by one stroke.

Posting a few weeks later on his Instagram account @maxlee_golf 17 he said: “The 2024 Sanhua TPGA championship means a lot to me, this is my first time winning at the Old Freshwater Stadium.

“I was not good at playing this course, and this year I finally did it.

“I remember feeling like jelly at the last hole and I looked up at the sky and a lot of past races here came to my mind.

“There is excitement in my heart (and I’m holding back the tears) feeling like I’m on the right path.”

Little did he know just how true those words would prove to be as 2024 evolved into being the best year of his career.

There was no better demonstration of Lee’s tenacity on the golf course than the way he attacked the final two holes at International Series Thailand in October last year.

Chasing down overnight leader Peter Uihlein, who began the day with a three-stroke lead at the Thai Country Club in Bangkok, Lee had sunk six birdies before a bogey on 15 looked to have derailed his chances.

But in bullish fashion he birdied the final two holes to fire a 7-under-par 63 and finish in the clubhouse 21-under for the tournament.

His bold strategy worked as Uihlein was in the following group and the LIV golfer who plays with RangeCoats GC appeared to buckle under the pressure. 

Not long after Lee had drained his 12-foot birdie putt on 18, Uihlein’s approach landed in a greenside bunker.

Standing on the green at 21-under he missed his subsequent par putt that would have forced a playoff, confirming Lee as champion.

“It’s been a simply amazing week,” said Lee, who had secured third place in the previous weekend’s Black Mountain Championship.

“I have come close to winning many times before. Even in my first year on Tour in 2015, I nearly won.

“I think my tee shots and my putting are getting better and better, that’s why I could do even better this week.”

Lee revealed that he’d been tweaking his game in pursuit of that all-important first Asian Tour win.

“After last season, I changed my swing a little bit,” he said, “but I knew I was on the right path, so I just kept doing it, kept working, and now it’s feeling better than last year.”

While his Thailand win was all about hunting down the leader, Riyadh in December was a masterclass in keeping a cool head and simply nailing his game.

The LIV Golf Promotions event provides the winner with direct entry into the following season’s LIV Golf League.

In the first two days of competition at Riyadh Golf Club, 90 or so hopefuls are whittled down to 20 who must then tackle 36-rounds of golf on the Saturday to determine who will earn LIV’s golden coin.

With unwavering belief Lee blitzed the field through the first 18 holes, carding nine birdies and two bogeys on his way to a seven-under-par 64.

There was no let up second time around as he maintained some breathing distance ahead of the rest with no hint of playing safe.

That was never more evident than at the par-3, 17th hole, where his lead was down to one shot.

Lee attacked the pin with a clutch drive that almost dropped into the hole for an ace but it set him up nicely for a short birdie putt

That restored his two-shot lead and at the 18th he tidied up with a par for a round of 68 and he topped the leaderboard ahead of joint runners-up Branden Grace and Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho.

It was a fitting finale to a stellar season for LIV Golf’s first Chinese Taipei national.

“I really didn’t expect this from myself,” he said modestly, “but I do believe that the quality of the field makes me play better.

“Competing against some world-class players and LIV Golf League stars on The International Series has been huge for me, a big part of my development, and I hope I can continue that and do even better next year, playing with such quality players every event on the LIV Golf League.”