Min Woo Lee surged ahead early in the season‑closing Tour Championship on the PGA Tour, while Rory McIlroy got off to a mixed start in his quest for FedExCup supremacy. Lee posted a flawless 62, carding eight birdies without a single bogey at East Lake Golf Club, where the course was playing under preferred lies after an overnight rain shower. Remarkably, all 29 competitors who completed the round managed to stay at or under par. The 28‑year‑old Australian now enjoys a two‑stroke lead over a trio that includes Chris Gotterup, Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who finished his opening round with a birdie‑birdie finish to post a 65, has closed the gap to within three shots of the top spot. Ludvig Åberg, Akshay Bhatia and Ryan Gerard are also tied at five under, while defending champion Tommy Fleetwood trails by another stroke in a group that features fellow Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick and Open champion Ryan Fox.
Last week’s BMW Championship victor Wyndham Clark sits five strokes back after a solid three‑under 67. McIlroy, meanwhile, finds himself tied for 20th after a roller‑coaster 68 that featured five birdies offset by three bogeys, a start that leaves his bid for a record‑tying fourth FedExCup title very much alive but far from secure.
Lee’s round was punctuated by a string of back‑to‑back birdies beginning at the fourth hole. He then played the remainder of his round alone after his playing partner, JJ Spaun, withdrew on the sixth tee due to a shoulder injury. Undisturbed, Lee continued to swap the leaderboard lead with Hovland, who was playing two groups ahead.
Lee closed the front nine without a bogey, sealing a 20‑foot birdie putt on the eighth and adding another birdie on the ninth. On the back nine Lee again demonstrated his scoring prowess, posting consecutive birdies on the 12th and 13th and another from close range on the 16th. Those strokes gave him a two‑stroke cushion when Hovland, who had been flawless up to that point, stumbled on the 17th, making a three‑putt bogey from 25 feet. Hovland quickly answered by getting up and down from a greenside bunker to birdie the final par‑five, setting a clubhouse target of six under par.
Lee matched that finishing birdie, preserving his two‑stroke lead and equalling the lowest round of his PGA Tour career. "It felt a bit odd at first, like I was looking for a playing partner and there was nobody there," Lee reflected. "I just focused on keeping my swing speed steady and not rushing. I had to slow down a little, and it paid off." Collin Morikawa, who began his round with a bogey, rebounded strongly, tallying seven birdies to pull even with Hovland.
Gotterup responded with birdies on three of his final five holes, creating a three‑way tie for second place. Åberg finished strong with a three‑birdie finish, joining Bhatia and Gerard at five under. Scheffler completed the group tied for fifth after holing a 10‑foot birdie on the final hole, marking the fourth time in five seasons that he has opened with a 65 or better. Scheffler explained his mindset after the round: "Aside from the first hole, I wasn’t really fighting for par very much.
That’s always a good sign at East Lake. Every missed fairway here usually means you’ll struggle to make par, but I gave myself some chances and managed to snag a couple of birdies at the end." McIlroy’s round was a study in contrast. He briefly found himself at the bottom of the leaderboard after failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker on the first hole and then making a bogey on the fourth despite holing an eight‑foot putt. He did, however, recover with a birdie on the sixth and another on the ninth, though he missed a short four‑foot birdie opportunity on the latter.
The second half of his round was more encouraging: two birdies in three holes to start the back nine, a clumsy bogey on the 14th, followed by a six‑foot birdie on the 15th par‑three, and another birdie on the 17th. By the end of day one, only five players were positioned below him on the leaderboard. The tournament continues to shape up as a tightly contested battle for the FedExCup, with the final three rounds set to determine who will claim the coveted title.
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