Lee finished T21 at the 150th Open Championship following an impressive three-under-par 69 at St. Andrews.

The 23-year-old shook off a "good double bogey" after a fan's mobile phone went off midway through his swing on the 13th hole to rally with three late birdies in a rousing finale to his championship.

He drew a rapturous applause from the huge gallery after almost holing out for eagle at the 72nd hole.

"It was amazing. I thought I holed that last shot. It was very close," Lee said.

Lee admitted he was rattled by his misfortune on the 13th when he was forced to reset after pulling out of his tee shot following the noisy interruption and going within millimetres of hitting his ball.

Min Woo Lee was very good between tee and green all week. PHOTO: Getty Images.

"It was crazy. That's never happened to me in my life," he said.

"My next shot was absolutely horrendous. I hit it about 50 metres off the tee, pretty much skunk-shanked it into the trees, into the gorse and had to take a drop and made a good double.

"But three birdies coming in was incredible. I made a really good up and down on 17 so I really proud of myself."

The impressive showing follows his joint-13th finish on his Masters debut in April, then a tie for 27th in his maiden U.S Open last month.

"I wish there were more majors. It feels like the only tournaments I'm playing good at," Lee said.

"I'm just going to learn off this and I need to make sure I keep this mentality. When I'm in that grind (mode), it's pretty impressive and I'm pretty proud of the way I handled myself."

Lee was 36th in the International team standings for Presidents Cup entering the Open and will likely climb into the top 20 next week.

With up to half a dozen players above him are unavailable after defecting to LIV Golf, Lee will rise even further.

But, realistically, he'll need one of the four captain's picks from Trevor Immelman to make the 12-man International line-up for the showdown with the United States at Quail Hollow in September.

"If I get in, I'll be over the moon," Lee said.

"Obviously, it's a long way to go with guys pulling out and playing the other tour.

"I don't know if I can grab one of those top eight spots but hopefully the captain can see what I can do under pressure.

"I feel like I can play when it's backs-against-the-wall type of golf. It would be exciting. I love teams' events."

– Darren Walton