Australia’s Min Woo Lee suffered a nightmarish triple bogey collapse to fall off the lead in the final round of the Players Championship. But he’s still in the hunt for his first-ever PGA Tour win and $6.8 million in prize money.
He started his day with a birdie on the first par-4 and took the lead when American world number two Scottie Scheffler bogeed the third.
But a hole later everything changed.
The Aussie found the rough off the tee of the 393-yard, par-4 fourth and prevented it from laying on his second shot. He then found the water on his third shot when he carded a seven, quickly putting him three shots off pace.
He was disgusted with his approach shot on the seventh and let out an annoyed “Oh my god!” But he only delivered his second birdie of the day with a 28-foot clutched putt that was nearly two shots behind Scheffler.
Scheffler then shagged the eighth with a brilliant chip off the bunker-side rough to extend his lead to three when Lee found the bunker and only managed bogey.
The 2022 Masters champion is under 14 overall, even over eight holes in the finals. Scheffler and Lee are part of the final pairing of the day, teeing off at 4.45am AEDT.
A variety of players remain in the competition, but there was no shortage of glitches and big mistakes. As veteran TV analyst Paul Azinger put it, “There are trainwrecks everywhere.”
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Behind Lee in third place is a star-studded group including fellow Australian Cam Davis, Hideki Matsuyama, Max Homa and Viktor Hovland.
Matsuyama fought for the lead, making seven birdies by the 13th before a double bogey on the 14th.
Another Australian, Cam Davis, has progressed through eight holes, putting him under 10 overall.
And 2016 Players winner Jason Day is one under through 14 and seven under overall.
Meanwhile, Alex Smalley hit an ace on the famous Island Green – the third hole-in-one on the famous 17th hole of the weekend. No other tournament has even had two aces on the 17th.
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After moving to second place on the third lap yesterday, Lee said, “Yeah, tomorrow might be the best day of my life, but I’m going to get out there and have fun again.
“That was the motto for the last three months. Don’t take it too seriously. I like having fun and interacting with the fans when I can. Unlike others, you know, they’re very serious.
“I’m just out here enjoying my time and like I said, I just wormed my way into this tournament and made the most of it and soaked it all up.”
Lee secured only first place in the event after a strong showing in the final day of the Honda Classic pushed him into the top 50 in the world.
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