Min Woo Lee came into Augusta National as an outside contender, but his hopes of a Green Jacket appear to have been quickly dashed.
He shot an opening round 78, leaving him way down the leaderboard at six-over par. A firm and fast Augusta National proved to be too stern of a test for many of the world’s best golfers, and Lee was among them.
Lee is now 11 shots back of the lead, and will be fighting desperately just to make the cut on Friday. He admitted after his round that he was proven immediately wrong about this hallowed golf course.
Min Woo Lee admits his pre-Masters comments about Augusta National were totally wrong
Many saw these conditions coming during the week, as the weather forecast showed not a single drop of rain would fall onto the course during the event. But Lee said on Monday, after his practice round, that it was softer than people were saying.
But after his opening round, Lee immediately walked that back. He was asked what happened with his round and answered: “Yeah, just didn’t drive it good enough. I felt like I didn’t have any birdie chances. Yeah, it’s tough around here if you don’t drive it well. I’ll do a bit of practicing and hopefully get it going tomorrow.”
He then admitted that he was wrong about the course condition, adding, “It’s way firmer than — yeah, I take back what I said on Tuesday. I didn’t think it was that firm. Now it’s like a Saturday firm I would say for a Thursday, which is not really normal.
“Yeah, it is nearly baked out over the last — you know, those last six holes have been — I mean, 15 was not unplayable, but it was very — even for a lob wedge in, you know, where one bouncing towards the back of the edge, it’s tough, it’s tough.
“This course does that, and yeah, hopefully we can get it going tomorrow morning.”
Min Woo Lee says what he needs to work on to make the cut
Lee now needs to work hard to make the cut, having left himself well over par on his first day. He was asked what he needs to work on to battle back, and said, “Off the tee, I’ve got to give myself more chances.
“I feel like I didn’t hit it really close at all and didn’t take advantage of the par-5. Yeah, it’s a pretty hard recipe to play good without those things.”
Distance off the tee is crucial at Augusta, especially now that the tee boxes have been moved back on all of the par fives. If you leave yourself out of position around this golf course, then you will quickly find yourself dropping shots.
So the key for Lee’s success tomorrow is hitting more fairways to give himself good looks at the greens.
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