MIN WOO LEE LEADS TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP WITH A 62
Australian Min Woo Lee had never played in the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club and was not feeling the best approaching this weeks season finale, but with a little YouTube research he managed to shoot a career-low round of 8-under-par 62 to take the first round lead.
“Yeah, very average two weeks the last two weeks. It was probably the saddest I’ve been on the golf course, which is not good. We’re really lucky to be out here and play some good golf to get into the playoffs. It just felt so hard.”
“It just got to a point where I was looking at what’s in the bags of everyone else and trying to find out what to do and ended up changing shafts before the week, on the Tuesday. Even my team was very hesitant about it, but the results were really good when I did practice with it, and it was nice to hit shots that I saw out there, and it was really good.”
“That was probably the biggest part of the good scoring. Didn’t miss it in wrong spots, missed them in the right spots, and holed some putts.”
With preferred lies in operation due to overnight rain, Lee rolled in eight birdies and had no bogeys on his scorecard for his 62 to finish two clear of the field of 29-players, who all broke par on day one.
His nearest challengers are Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa and Chris Gotterup who each shot a 6-under-par 64; Scottie Scheffler sits a shot further back on 5-under after a 65. Rory McIlroy opened with a 2-under 68 to trail by six shots.
When asked about how he prepared for his first visit to East Lake, if asked anybody for advice Lee responded, “Not really. Just YouTube highlights. I know the course has changed a tiny bit. I know the guys that have played really well here. There’s just a few things you need to work on.”
“Approach play was probably the biggest part that I needed to get better just for this week.”
As if shooting 62 wasn’t exciting enough, Lee had to deal with his playing partner J.J. Spaun withdrawing from the tournament with a shoulder injury after hitting his drive on the sixth hole
“It was a little strange at first, just like looking for a playing partner and you’re just there by yourself. It was more just maintaining speeds and not rushing because I would just catch the group in front and wait. So I had to just slow down a little bit. It worked out.”, said Lee.
Spaun has been suffering with the injury for a few years and was obviously disappointed withdrawing, “Yeah, it’s disappointing to — I tried to push through it. Today it felt a lot better, like mobility-wise, but I think with the torque and the amount of force in a golf swing, it just doesn’t feel very comfortable. I’m nowhere in a — you know, point in my game health-wise to be able to compete at the highest level.”
“I just didn’t want to cause any further damage before I assess this correctly and see what’s going on in there. Hopefully — it’s improving day by day. I just think I’ve got to take a few days off golf, maybe a week or so, and I should be fine. I didn’t want to make a naive decision by pushing through to finish 30th. I wasn’t playing my best, and it’s just hard to complete a backswing right now.”
“Yeah, it sucks to end the year this way, but that’s life. I turned 36 last week, and I think maybe that’s just kind of what happens when you’re in your mid-30s now.”
Now with 29 players left in the field and a receptive East Lake it should be an exciting few days of golf viewing ahead.
Photo: Min Woo Lee leads Tour Championship (Photo: by Gerry Ruddy)