Australia's leading amateur Min Woo Lee has turned professional and hopes to start the next phase of his golfing career on the European Tour.
Although the 20-year-old world No.5-ranked amateur is yet to secure a professional card, he expects to be busy in 2019.
The West Australian will make his debut at next week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, part of the tour's prestigious Rolex Series.
The right-hander, who has made no secret of his long-term intention to play in the United States, has also secured a start in the Panama Championship on the Web.Com Tour early in February.
"The time is now," Lee said.
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"People have been asking me for a little while, but I've now proven to myself that I can compete at the highest level and my team and I feel that there are good opportunities ahead.
"I got through the first two stages of Web Q-School and narrowly missed my card at the final stage, so I'm going to play against the pros knowing that I can already compete.
"It has been an amazing ride and I can't wait for the next chapters on the next stage, wherever they might be."
Lee burst to international prominence when he became the first Australian to win the US Boys' Junior Championship in Tennessee in 2016.
He twice was prominent in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship and was a key member of several Australian and international teams, including at the World Amateur Teams Championship last year in Ireland, where he was sixth individually.
Golf Australia high performance general manager Brad James was looking forward to monitoring Lee's progression.
"His high performance team in WA have given him some great development opportunities and we are confident he'll continue to use those learnings and all our support during the transition into professional golf," he said.
