Min Woo Lee played most of the first round of the Tour Championship by himself Thursday, and nobody in the field played better before him. He finished with a career-best 8-under-par 62 and left the course as the leader.
His partner for the day, J.J. Spaun, hit his tee shot on the sixth hole at East Lake Golf Club, felt something in his shoulder and walked off with an injury. Golfers play in pairs, which left Lee with 13 holes and no one to play them with.
Lee made eight birdies and no bogeys in the rain, and he went into the clubhouse in sole possession of the lead with the higher-seeded players still on the course. The rain was so bad the Tour went to preferred lies on all 18 holes, letting players clean their ball and set it back down.
"It was
one of my first times that I had to play by myself," Lee said on the Golf Channel. "It was a little rattling on that first hole that I was solo, but it's nice that there's pacing out here, so … if I played fast, I think I would have caught up to the group in front pretty quick. So I could play calmer and talk it through a little bit more, and obviously it worked out. It was a little weird, but hopefully J.J.'s fine."
Lee got to Atlanta as the 21st of 30 qualifiers. Nothing from his season suggested this was coming. He tied for 55th at the FedEx St. Jude two weeks ago and 47th at the BMW last week. He missed the cut at the U.S. Open and Memorial. A runner-up at the Genesis Scottish Open was his high point.
The 28-year-old Australian has won out here once, the 2025 Houston Open. He beat Scottie Scheffler and Gary Woodland by a shot. This was his first time making the Tour Championship.
"You see the leaderboard, see the top 30 and they're all shooters and really good golfers," Lee said. "So to be one of them is very nice. We started from scratch at the beginning of this, so why not give it a good crack?"
Where to watch the 2026 Tour Championship
The Tour Championship is airing exclusively across multiple networks, including ESPN, Golf Channel and CBS. Here's a look at the daily TV schedule (all times ET):
Thursday, Aug. 27, First Round
- ESPN: 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
- Golf Channel: 1-6 p.m.
- ESPN+: 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
- Sirius XM: Noon-6 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 28, Second Round
- ESPN: 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
- Golf Channel: 1-6 p.m.
- ESPN+: 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
- Sirius XM: Noon-6 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 29, Third Round
- Golf Channel: 1-3 p.m.
- CBS/Paramount+: 3-7 p.m.
- ESPN+: 12:15-7 p.m.
- Sirius XM: 2-7 p.m
Sunday, Aug. 30, Final Round
- Golf Channel: 12-1:30 p.m.
- CBS/Paramount+: 1:30-6 p.m.
- ESPN+: 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
- Sirius XM: 1-6 p.m.
Tour Championship Tee Times
Get the latest tee times and groups for The TOUR Championship 2026 here.
Follow the 2026 Tour Championship with USA TODAY Sports
Keep up with all the action at East Lake Golf Club with USA TODAY Sports' live leaderboard, stats and more .
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Min Woo Lee plays 13 holes all by himself, fires 62 to lead Tour Championship
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