Rising Australian star Min Woo Lee’s debut at The Gamers Championship was nothing wanting eventful and included him topping the leaderboard earlier than enduring a weird cramping occasion.
Lee rode the ups and downs to card a gap spherical four-under 68 at TPC Sawgrass in Florida because the “fifth main” acquired underneath means with out banned defending champion Cameron Smith, who wasn’t sighted within the galleries regardless of cheekily suggesting he would possibly flip up anyway.
In an interview with Golf Digest, Smith stated it “stings a bit” to not be there, however he knew what he was sacrificing when he made his transfer to LIV Golf.
“It stings a bit, however with my determination to come back over to LIV, that was one of many issues I had to surrender, and I’m relaxed with it,” he stated.
“I’d like to be enjoying there, however there are a number of different nice tournaments and venues and nations that I’m trying ahead to this yr.”
Making up for Smith’s absence, Lee reeled off seven birdies and was main the $35m event on day one earlier than dropping two pictures in his remaining two holes on Thursday.
That adopted the incident on the fifteenth tee the place he winced in ache after hitting his drive and wanted on-course remedy for what was known as an “over stretch”.
“It was a bizarre one as a result of I had by no means skilled that earlier than. It was form of a joke,” Lee stated after his spherical.
“I believed I had … at the start of the week I believed I had an allergic response to the electrolytes I used to be having, and when you don‘t have electrolytes you get cramps after which I acquired a cramp.
“Yeah, it put the puzzle items collectively, and that’s what occurred.
“I simply swung my driver, and on the finish of it I form of overextended my calf and wasn’t the most effective of timing, however I’m pleased to get it completed, and I didn‘t really hit it that unhealthy with the cramp.
“The physio stated it was simply an overstretch, so it might need been tightness within the calf and I overstretched it. That’s what he thinks. There’s no discolouration or something which I’m grateful for as a result of it didn’t really feel the best.”
Lee’s quick begin, which left him 4 pictures behind chief Chad Ramey, helped his trigger to get again to the Masters. Ranked 50 on this planet, the 24-year-old wants to remain there, or enhance, to get again to Augusta the place he completed in a tie for 14th final yr, his first time on the Masters.
And after battling sickness by way of the beginning of the yr, Cameron Davis was the following greatest Aussie at three-under, whereas Jason Day continued his return to type to shoot a two-under 70, which included going into the water on the sixteenth gap.
Adam Scott began with a good par spherical however fellow Aussie Lucas Herbert had a day to overlook, carding a 10-over par 82, regardless of making birdie on the well-known par three seventeenth, after a horror triple bogey on the 18th to take a seat useless final within the elite subject.
