Min Woo Lee arrived at East Lake this week describing his iron play as the worst of his season, and by his own account the state of it had left him about as low as he has felt on a golf course. Three days later, on a soft, rain-softened Thursday in Atlanta, he produced the round of his PGA Tour career: eight birdies, no bogeys, a 62 that ties his personal best and hands him a two-shot lead after round one of the Tour Championship.
The turnaround traces back to a single decision made two days before the tournament even started. Frustrated enough to go looking through other players’ bags for answers, Lee blind-tested three different shafts on the Tuesday and settled on a heavier option, the True Temper Dynamic Gold S-400, on the recommendation of his coach back home, who had been asking him a simple question: why was he swinging it so fast. The change slowed his swing down, and at East Lake it turned into the best ball-striking week of his year. He finished second in the field in strokes gained on approach and rolled in 132 feet of putts along the way.
An unusual round played mostly alone
Lee’s day carried a strange subplot. He was paired with J.J. Spaun, who withdrew with a shoulder injury on the sixth hole, leaving Lee to play out the rest of his round without a partner. He called it unsettling at first, an odd rhythm to find on a course where preferred lies were in play across all eighteen holes because of overnight rain. He settled into it by slowing down and not rushing between shots, which given how the round unfolded is difficult to argue with.
The front nine alone told the story. Lee closed it bogey-free with a 20-foot birdie at the eighth and another at the ninth, trading the lead for much of the day with Viktor Hovland, who was playing two groups ahead of him. Back-to-back birdies from the 12th and another at the 16th pushed Lee two clear, and when Hovland three-putted the 17th from 25 feet for a bogey, the door looked open. Hovland responded by getting up and down from a greenside bunker to birdie the closing par five and set a clubhouse target of six under. Lee matched him with a birdie of his own at the last, restoring his two-shot cushion and sealing a round that will be hard to forget regardless of how the week finishes.
Scheffler chases, McIlroy scrambles
World number one Scottie Scheffler was not far behind, closing with back-to-back birdies for a bogey-free 65 that leaves him three adrift, tied with Ludvig Åberg, Akshay Bhatia and Ryan Gerard at five under. Scheffler is chasing a second FedExCup after winning it in 2024, and a bogey-free scorecard in these conditions suggests he is finding the sort of touch that has made him difficult to beat all season.
Rory McIlroy’s day was messier. Chasing a record fourth FedExCup, he mixed five birdies with three bogeys for a two-under 68 that leaves him tied for 20th, six shots off the pace. It is the kind of start that puts him firmly in the chasing pack rather than out of contention altogether, not that anyone at East Lake needs reminding what McIlroy is capable of doing across three more rounds.
Elsewhere in the field, Wyndham Clark, fresh off his win at last week’s BMW Championship, sits five back after a three-under 67. Defending champion Tommy Fleetwood is further adrift still, grouped alongside Matt Fitzpatrick and Open champion Ryan Fox.
What it means for the week
Everyone at East Lake began the tournament level, the Tour’s second year without the FedExCup starting strokes that once separated the field before a shot was struck. That format means Lee’s round counts for precisely what it is: eight birdies and nothing else on the card, a genuine 62 rather than a staggered-scoring illusion. It is also, poignantly, likely to be remembered for another reason. The PGA Tour confirmed this week that this is the final Tour Championship to be played in this 72-hole, single-venue format before a switch to match play from 2028. Whatever happens across the next three days, Lee has given this version of the event one of its more memorable opening acts.
There is a long way to go, and East Lake has a habit of rewarding patience over the weekend rather than fireworks on a Thursday. But for a player who walked into the week questioning his own iron play, a two-shot lead and a career-low round is about as complete a reversal as golf offers.