By Evin Priest at TPC Sawgrass
Min Woo Lee started the final round two shots back of 54-hole leader Scottie Scheffler. Playing with the American in the final group at TPC Sawgrass, Australia’s Lee found himself tied for the lead with Scheffler after three holes. But a triple-bogey 7 at the par-4 fourth derailed his charge. What he did next won him a new legion of fans.
After the triple on four, Lee plummeted from 13-under par to 10-under. And it wasn’ the only 7 on the card for Lee, the second being a double-bogey at the normally friendly par-5 11th. In the end, Lee signed for a gut-wrenching 76 that dropped him to a share of sixth at eight-under par, nine shots back of eventual winner Scheffler.
Scheffler’s closing 69 was good enough for 17-under and a five-shot win over England’s Tyrrell Hatton. Hatton shot 29 on the back nine, equalling that loop’s record low score, to finish second. Tom Hoge and Viktor Hovland tied third.
Afterwards, 24-year-old Perth native Lee spoke reporters honestly about his round, and that 7 on the fourth.
“It happened really quick. It’s one of those things where it’s Sunday and you just make a couple bad decisions and it all kind of falls down,” Lee said. “But I hung in there pretty well. I didn’t have it all today. It’s funny how yesterday I felt like I had the best swing in the world, and then today I just felt like nothing could go right.”
Lee, a two-time DP World Tour winner, was five over for his round before he birdied the par-5 16th to begin a late fightback. On the 17th, he hit his tee shot to five feet at the iconic par 3 and made the putt, before celebrating almost ironically by waving his arm to the crowd.
Lee even got a shoutout from wildly popular US sports network, Barstool Sports via its Fore Play podcast:
“It was a nice finish and I’m pretty proud of the result and I think it will take me a long way,” Lee said. “It could have been a lot worse. That’s for sure. It wasn’t easy; I think obviously [the crowd] was favouring Scottie, but I enjoyed the crowd out there. They were very good. It seemed like I was like back home, so it was nice. There’s so many people around 16, 17, 18, which is an unbelievable scene. It was all fun.”
On windmilling his arm to the gallery around the 17th, Lee said:
“It was hard to, it’s hard to engage the crowd when you’ve made triple-bogey and double-bogey [in your round] and you’re trying to keep your head up high,” he said. “But just for a second there you just have to stop and really look at the crowd and you’re here for a reason and you’ve done really well and, yeah, that was probably the most people I’ve ever seen on one hole, on 17, so it was pretty cool.”
Lee came agonisingly close to earning Special Temporary Membership on the PGA Tour, which he would have done with a finish of solo fourth or better. Still, with more PGA Tour events to play this season, including the upcoming WGC–Match Play and the Masters, the now world No.45 has more chances this year to earn his way to the US.
“I’m excited, hopefully I can play well in the next few PGA Tour tournaments and can play out here,” Lee said.
Another Aussie also had a great chance on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass, Cam Davis. The Sydneysider was in the mix through 12 holes before a bogey at the 14th and a water ball during a double-bogey at the 17th. His 74 dropped him to a tie for sixth with countryman Lee. Other high finishes from Aussies included 2016 Players champion Jason Day’s tie for 19th.
Results
Players Championship
TPC Sawgrass (Stadium course), Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
1            Scottie Scheffler 68-69-65-69—271           $US4.5m
T-6          Cam Davis          69-70-67-74—280           $736,607
T-6          Min Woo Lee    68-70-66-76—280           $736,607
T-19       Jason Day           70-70-70-72—282           $275,000
T-27       Ryan Fox (NZ)    74-68-70-71—283           $167,656
71          Adam Scott        72-73-77-71—293           $50,750
72          Aaron Baddeley 73-72-74-76—295           $50,250
MC        Harrison Endycott            70-77—147
MC        Lucas Herbert    82-85—167
