Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Min Woo Lee is staying cool as he enters a weekend in his best position yet to contend for major championship glory.
Lee put on a back-nine show to be tied for third, just one shot off the pace, after eking out a second-round even-par 70 in more brutal conditions at the PGA Championship in chilly Pennsylvania.
A record 15 players are within two strokes of the lead after round two, the most in 108 years, with some 42 players within three.
At three under, the 27-year-old is spearheading a promising Australian challenge at Aronimink Golf Club outside of Philadelphia.
After starting the day in a seven-way share of the lead, Lee briefly hit four under with a birdie at the fourth hole before bogeys at five, nine and 10 threatened to cruel his chances.
But with three birdies, including two near chip-ins and the approach shot of the day to within 30 centimetres on the tough par-four 11th, the West Australian surged back up the leaderboard.
“Not as in control as yesterday, I would say. But happy with the grind,” Lee said.
“I did lose it a little bit out there just in the middle part. There’s some tough holes out there. It’s very easy to get your mind spiralling, but you can’t do that at a major championship.
“So I made sure me and Shane, my caddie, had to regroup and thought I played the last seven, eight holes pretty good. The scores are showing that it’s a very tough course.”
The Perth talent has the opportunity to burst out of his triple major-winning sister Minjee’s shadow with a breakthrough maiden major of his own on Sunday.
“Yes, we are getting ahead of ourselves,” Lee told reporters.
“No, it’s every golfer’s dream. Yeah, it would be special. You would elevate as a player and, yeah, I don’t want to jinx anything but if we get to that question again, I would answer it how I feel.
“You win one, but you’ve got to win three more to overtake the sister. So there’s still a long way to go.”
Lee’s turnaround comes after he missed the cut in four of his previous five major appearances, including last month’s Masters.
“I’ve definitely matured but the game has matured as well, and that’s where we want to be,” he said.
“I just like the way this course shapes up for me. You have to drive it really well, and I have been driving it really well. Approach play is a lot better. The chipping and putting’s not too bad too. Hopefully we can keep going when the circumstances become tougher and especially at a major.”
Australia’s men’s major-winning heavyweights Jason Day and Cameron Smith are also still well in the mix.
The most recent non-American PGA Championship winner in 2015 and top Australian at last month’s Masters, Day also ground out a 70 to remain at one under for the championship, only three behind American co-leaders Maverick McNealy (67) and Alex Smalley (69).
After opening with successive birdies, Day’s round also could have gotten away from him after two bogeys around the turn, but the former world No.1 steadied to close with six straight pars.
Day is tied for 16th, with Smith equal 23rd at even par.
The 2022 British Open champion posted a one-over 71 to snap his run of six consecutive missed cuts at the majors.
Elvis Smylie (72-72) made the cut on the number at four over, but Travis Smyth (74-73) at seven over and Adam Scott (72-76) at eight over, won’t feature on the weekend.
The top-ranked Scottie Scheffler crept backwards but remained firm favourite with a one-over-par 71. But he was less than impressed by the course set-up after five holes yielded more three putts than birdies.
“You’ve just got to continue to try to hit good shots and most of the pins today were, I mean, kind of absurd,” Scheffler said after finishing the day in a tie for ninth at two under.
“They were just so far into the areas where we thought the pins were going to be, and then they just – like the one on 14 was probably the hardest pin that I’ve seen in a long time.
“Just because there’s literally just like a spine [in the green]and they’re like, ‘Oh, we’ll just put the pin right on top of it.’ And you’re like, ‘All right, well, I’ll see what I can do.’”
Scheffler, the defending champion who had a share of the 18-hole lead for the first time in a major, did not find a fairway until his ninth hole.
One day after hitting 13 of 14 fairways, he didn’t find the short grass until the 18th. He started on No.10 and already had three bogeys – all from the rough – through four holes.
AAP, AP
First round: It’s cluttered at the top
Australian Min Woo Lee has battled chilly weather and hot greens to claim a share of the lead after the first round of the PGA Championship in Pennsylvania.
Lee was part of the biggest logjam in 57 years after the opening round of a major championship.
But there was still one name that stood out above the rest: Scottie Scheffler handling everything Aronimink threw his way.
Scheffler took advantage of two long birdie putts and one big break on the 17th hole for a 3-under 67 to share the lead with six other players — former PGA champion Martin Kaymer perhaps the biggest surprise — on a tough day in the Philadelphia suburbs.
It was the 13th round in the majors that Scheffler has had at least a share of the lead, and remarkably the first time after the opening round.
Joining them at 67 were Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger, Lee, Ryo Hisatsune and Alex Smalley. The seven-way tie was the largest since nine players shared the lead in the 1969 PGA Championship at NCR Country Club in Dayton, Ohio.
And to think it could have been eight players. Garrick Higgo had a 69, which included a two-shot penalty before he even hit a shot for being 10 seconds late to the tee for his group’s starting time.
“Unfortunately, golf has these situations where we get penalised for things,” Higgo said. “But it is a rule and I obviously broke the rule. I would love to have three under. Hopefully, I can make a good story out of it.”
Masters champion Rory McIlroy bogeyed his last four holes for a 74 that sent him to the practice range for most of the afternoon.
Lee rebounded from a first-hole bogey with five birdies in an impressive three-under-par start to men’s golf’s second major championship of the year.
The large, undulating and lightning quick greens at Aronimink Golf Club, outside Philadelphia, proved a challenge for most, but Lee handled the test impressively to lead an early Australian charge.
Australia’s 2015 champion Jason Day cursed his putter after managing just two late birdies in a one-under 69 despite a brilliant ball-striking round.
Chasing the final leg of a career grand slam, Jordan Spieth was making a move with three birdies on his back nine, but two late bogeys also left him at one under.
After missing the cut in six consecutive majors, Cameron Smith was also three under through seven holes, but Australia’s one-time world No.2 dropped three shots late in an even-par round of 70.
McIlroy was furious after finishing with four successive bogeys and posting a four-over 74.
Starting his round from the 10th hole, McIlroy made a troubled start with an opening bogey, after having to hack out of the rough, but bounced straight back with a birdie at the 11th.
From there, it was a run of 10-straight pars for the Northern Irishman, who is chasing a seventh major title which would take him past Sir Nick Faldo’s tally and make him the most successful European of the modern era.
The two-time PGA champion could not find the spark and he showed his frustration as a sloppy drive on the fourth resulted in a second bogey.
Again, he hit straight back by sinking a 31-foot putt before unravelling coming home.
But no one struggled quite like Bryson DeChambeau, the 2024 and 2025 runner-up who didn’t make a birdie until he ended on the par-5 ninth hole.
That kept him from matching his highest score in a PGA Championship. He shot 76 and now has to work toward avoiding a second-straight missed cut in a major.
AAP, AP
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