Players Championship: Min Woo Lee Tops $40M ‘Fifth Major’; Thomas Ties Record

Min Woo Lee holds lead after 2nd round | 03:17

Australian Min Woo Lee fired a sensational six-under 66 to hold a share of the lead after the second round of the prestigious Players Championship.

Backing up his opening-round 67 that featured a stunning final-hole par save, Lee produced another brilliant round at Bay Hill to put himself right in the mix for victory at the $US25 million ($A40m) event, considered by many as golf’s ‘fifth major’.

Lee currently shares the lead with fellow rising star Akshay Bhatia at -11, with the American also carding a 66. JJ Spaun is one stroke back and second-ranked Rory McIlroy sharing fourth on 135 with Americans Collin Morikawa and Alex Smalley.

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American Justin Thomas went desperately close to breaking the course record at TPC Sawgrass, just needing to par the 18th to card an eleven-under par 61.

Tragically, Thomas found the water with his second shot and had to take a drop, which cost him the outright course record. He’d get up and down to record a 62, which ties countryman Tom Hoge, who shot 62 during the third round in 2023.

It was some sort of turnaround from Thomas, who was staring down the barrel of a missed cut after a six-over 78 in Round 1. He’s now -4 for the tournament, seven shots behind the leaders.

“I hadn’t had that happen in a while of just getting in a little bit of rhythm,” Thomas said. “I was in a groove. It was fun. It was nice to have a great day today.

“I’m pleasantly surprised and happy to have a tee time tomorrow.” The 31-year-old American, who stumbled to a 78 on Thursday, birdied five of the first nine holes then birdied four in a row starting at the par-five 11th and added a birdie putt from just inside five feet at the par-five 16th.

“One of those days,” Thomas said. “The greens were soft so you could be pretty aggressive. Just keep that gas pedal down.” At the par-three 17th island hole, Thomas hit a gap wedge to 18 feet and curled in a tense birdie putt.

But after a course-record 11 birdies, Thomas found the right rough and then water with his second shot at the par-four 18th before pitching inches from the hole and tapping in for bogey.

“It was such a bad mistake to do that, but I was in such a great place all day,” Thomas said. “Just tried to stay in my zone and finish off the day and we did.” Leaders Lee and Bhatia, meanwhile, made some magic of their own. Lee sank seven birdies but suffered his lone bogey on his final hole, the par-five ninth, after finding the right rough and a greenside bunker.

Lee was the only Australian to make the -1 cut with Adam Scott shooting a second round 72 to be two over while Cam Davis (+11) and Karl Vilips (+6) also missed out. Jason Day was a pre-tournament withdrawal due to illness.

“Felt really good over the ball,” Lee said. “Just really good numbers and rolled some putts in.” The 26-year-old from Perth seeks his first PGA victory but has won the Asian Tour’s Macau Open and three DP World Tour events.

The 26-year-old Aussie hasn’t done much wrong over the first two days, but credited one club in particular for the reason why he’s handled the challenging TPC Sawgrass course so well.

“I think my 2-iron, I’m using that a lot and it’s a pretty good weapon of mine. I can kind of draw it and hit it straight and it goes a long way,” Lee told reporters after his round of 66.

“When I hit it good it goes and ends up going a long way. That helps.

“I would love to hit the 2-iron everywhere but obviously you can’t.”

Lee, like many Aussies before him, has played well at this tournament. He finished in a tie for sixth in 2023.

Back-to-back champion Scottie Scheffler has some work to do if he’s to win a third straight Players Championship. He’ll enter the third round at -5 for the tournament, six shots behind Lee.

LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 2

Min Woo Lee -11

Akshay Bhatia -11

J.J Spaun -10

Rory McIlroy -9

Collin Morikawa -9

Alex Smalley -9

Lucas Glover -8

Four others on -7

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