Min Woo Lee takes opening round lead at PGA Tour Championship

[p]With a $10 million top prize up for grabs at East Lake in Atlanta, Georgia, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/morikawa-collin/0UlRrMgE/"]Collin Morikawa[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gotterup-christopher/nVwVk9Kf/"]Chris Gotterup[/a] and Norway's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hovland-viktor/lWxyqX2t/"]Viktor Hovland[/a] were two strokes behind the 28-year-old leader.[/p][p]World number one [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/scheffler-scottie/bXfIuBYu/"]Scottie Scheffler[/a] was among a group trailing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lee-min-woo/IwMMLluD/"]Lee[/a] by three, after a bogey-free 65, with six-time Major winner [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mcilroy-rory/djwanksN/"]Rory McIlroy[/a] six shots adrift on two-under par.[/p][p]The opening-day heroics from Lee, ranked 31st in the world, were at stark odds with his playoffs so far - he finished second-from-last at last week's BMW Championship, and 55th a week earlier.[/p][p]"[b]Very average two weeks, the last two weeks - it was probably the saddest I've been on the golf course, which is not good,[/b]" said Lee.[/p][p]But "[b]this week was a brand-new week, and we obviously play from scratch and everyone plays from the same score,[/b]" he added.[/p][p]"[b]Being out there, I thought why not give it a good crack and have a good attitude?[/b]"[/p][embed guid="3bf4f079-4bfa-4ce6-869a-7eb7fe904604" url="https://x.com/PGATOUR/status/2093066748035756299?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Lee's opening round featured eight birdies, including a 21-foot putt on eight that rattled the cup before dropping, and no bogeys.[/p][p]Lee - runner-up at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February, and at last month's Scottish Open - had quickly found himself in the unusual position of playing solo.[/p][p]His Thursday playing partner, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/spaun-j-j/6oUJlkde/"]JJ Spaun[/a] withdrew with a shoulder injury, having struggled through just five holes at four-over par.[/p][p]"[b]It was a little strange at first, just like looking for a playing partner and you're just there by yourself,[/b]" admitted Lee.[/p][p]"[b]It was more just maintaining speeds and not rushing because I would just catch the group in front and wait. So I had to just slow down a little bit. It worked out.[/b]"[/p][p]Spaun said it was "disappointing" to withdraw having tried to push through the pain, but "[b]didn't want to cause any further damage.[/b]"[/p][p]Tied for second, two strokes behind Lee on six-under, were two-time Major winner Morikawa, 2023 Tour Championship winner Hovland, and eighth-ranked Gotterup.[/p][p]"[b]Out here these greens are fast. It's probably the fastest I've seen them over the past few years, but I saw them really well today,[/b]" said Morikawa.[/p][p]A further shot back were Americans [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gerard-ryan/Wh01wlMn/"]Ryan Gerard[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bhatia-akshay/hO3IOL5C/"]Akshay Bhatia[/a], Sweden's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/aberg-ludvig/67ZVNhdN/"]Ludvig Aberg[/a], and Scheffler.[/p][p]The world number one birdied his final two holes, getting up-and-down from a bunker thanks to a 10-foot putt on the 18th to stay firmly in the race.[/p][p]Lee's compatriot [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/scott-adam/QkZT3jCc/"]Adam Scott[/a] and reigning British Open champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fox-ryan/bR9ztYXn/"]Ryan Fox[/a] were among a group on four-under that also included last year's Tour Championship winner [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fleetwood-tommy/Svq63qoo/"]Tommy Fleetwood[/a].[/p]