TGD Newswire – This Week In Golf – Min Woo Lee Sets the Pace at East Lake With a Career-Best 62 (Aug 27, 2026)
The final event of the 2026 PGA Tour postseason opened Thursday at East Lake Golf Club, and it was Min Woo Lee — not any of the FedEx Cup points leaders — who set the tone. The Australian carded an 8-under 62, tying his personal best on Tour, to grab a two-shot first-round lead over Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa, and Chris Gotterup.
Why the Round Stands Out
Under the Tour Championship’s staggered-scoring format, all 30 players start the week at even par, with position on the FedEx Cup points list determining the head start. Lee wasn’t among the top qualifiers entering the week, which makes an outright 62 — with no scoring cushion built in — a legitimately elite round rather than a product of the format.
It was also Lee’s tournament debut at East Lake, adding to the storyline. A win here wouldn’t just be a signature Tour Championship title — it would put him in position to become the second straight FedEx Cup winner to claim the season-long race without a win the year prior, following the recent trend of the postseason producing unexpected champions.
The Chasing Pack
Hovland, Morikawa, and Gotterup sit two back after the opening round, each with real form arguments of their own heading into the week. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler opened more conservatively — a difficult lie in the right rough on the first hole led to a lay-up and a scrambling par save, a start that looked nothing like a round from the tournament’s top seed.
What to Watch
East Lake is a course where the leaderboard rarely stays static across four rounds, and the staggered scoring format means the “true” leader isn’t always the name on top after 18 holes. Worth tracking heading into the weekend: whether Lee can hold his form against a back-nine crowd of proven closers, and whether Scheffler’s Round 1 struggles were a blip or an early signal for a longer week.
Source: CBS Sports
