Changwoo Lee's participation in the Moutai Singapore Open, a stop on the Asian Tour's International Series, ended… prematurely. The South Korean golfer was disqualified for showing up to the tee 5 minutes and 23 seconds late. Those 23 seconds over the limit cost him dearly: the loss of a competition that could have marked the turning point of his season.
Changwoo Lee, results
Changwoo Lee is one of those struggling to carve out a stable future in the world of golf. He's 31 years old, ranked 1,437th in the world, and has a trophy cabinet empty to dust. Hanging somewhere, however, is his military service discharge, mandatory for anyone born in South Korea: Lee served his country from December 2021 to mid-2023, staying away from the golf course.
The golfer is currently coming off a troubled season: between June and October, he missed the cut in nine consecutive matches on the Asian and Korean Tours. Slowly, things began to turn around in October, as demonstrated by his three consecutive weekends on the Asian Tour.
The competition at the Singapore Island Golf Club was therefore a major one. The International Series represents the privileged gateway to LIV Golf, the Saudi-based circuit with million-dollar prize money. Also competing in Singapore is Italian Stefano Mazzoli, fresh from earning a DP World Tour card.
We will never know the South Korean golfer's current form because Lee was unable to play on Thursday, November 6th.
What we do know, however, is that ignorance of the rules of golf is no excuse. Rule 5.3 sets the maximum delay for teeing off at five minutes. Anyone arriving within that time limit receives a two-stroke penalty; anyone exceeding it is disqualified. And so it was.
Twenty-three seconds: a hair's breadth, but enough to erase a week's worth of work. That's what happened to Changwoo Lee. But what do twenty-three seconds represent in a golfer's routine on competition day?
We can only imagine: leaving aside the logistical issues (alarm clock, traffic, traffic lights…), we can imagine that 23 seconds correspond to a few moments spent too long practicing. Perhaps that last ball played on the putting green. Or a few seconds of hesitation before leaving the warm-up area.
Twenty-three seconds: interminable for the stopwatch placed on the tee of hole one, slipping away somehow for Changwoo Lee.
