Australian Min Woo Lee is on the brink of a life-changing $6.8 million payday after surging into contention ahead of the final round in The Players Championship.
Admitting Monday “could be the biggest day” of his life, Lee told reporters he was going to stick by his motto of simply having “fun” after finding himself just two shots behind leader American Scottie Scheffler.
Both Lee and Scheffler are scheduled to be the final pair to tee off at 4.45am (AEDT).
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“Yeah, tomorrow could be the biggest day of my life, but I’m going to go out there and have fun again,” Lee said.
“It’s been the motto for the last three months. Not taking it too seriously. I like to have fun and interact with the fans when I can. Unlike others, you know, they’re very serious.
“I’m just out here enjoying my time, and like I said, I just crept into this tournament and making the most of it and soaking it all in.”
Lee is right. He only secured a spot in the event in the first place after a strong performance on the final day at the Honda Classic saw him move inside the world’s top 50.
Lee made a sensational start to his round, making an eagle on the par-4 first, holing out from 112 yards before sinking a 34-yard putt for birdie on the fourth.
The 24-year-old from Perth made four more birdies before he ended on a slightly sour note with a bogey on the 18th, where he missed a seven-foot par putt.
The Sawgrass crowd warmed to him with chants of ‘Woo’ booming out around the course.
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“It was amazing, amazing day. Just coming on 17 and 18 and hearing the crowd chant and that’s all I’m asking for. Yeah, just had a lot of fun,” he said.
“It’s really special to get that chant. I had that same thing at Aussie PGA last year. It’s even cooler here on 17 at Sawgrass; you can’t ask for anything more.
“I love playing in front of a crowd, and I love entertaining them. So I hope they had a good show today and hopefully I can do it again tomorrow.”
Sunday saw the lowest third-round field score to par since the Players moved to Sawgrass in 1982 with 15 players shooting 67 or better.
For Lee though, there has been again been a simple way he has avoided falling into the trap of losing his way.
“I mean Sawgrass is scary,” he said.
“There’s a lot of times where people have faltered and you don’t want to be one of those. But as long as you can control your emotions and go out there and have fun, which I did, it was fun playing really good golf.”
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Lee will be looking to join Craig Perks (2002) and Tim Clark (2010) as players to make The Players Championship their first career PGA Tour title, with Scheffler his biggest threat.
The American birdied the final hole to complete a seven-underpar 65 and take a two-shot lead into the final round.
With Spain’s world number one Jon Rahm having withdrawn from the tournament with illness and number three Rory McIlroy missing the cut, Scheffler, who is 14-under, can regain the top spot in the world rankings with a top-five finish at TPC Sawgrass.
English pair Tommy Fleetwood and Aaron Rai are level in fourth place, five shots back of Scheffler along with South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout and American Chad Ramey, the 18-hole leader.
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