Min Woo Lee Opened the Tour Championship With a Sixty-Two and Says a Heavier Iron Shaft Did It
Eight under, sixteen greens in regulation, no bogeys and a two-shot lead at East Lake. Scottie Scheffler shot a bogey-free sixty-five. The final round of the FedExCup season is today.
Min Woo Lee opened the 2026 Tour Championship with an eight-under 62 at East Lake and led by two. He hit sixteen of eighteen greens in regulation and made eight birdies without a bogey. The final round is today.
The top of the board after round one
| Player | Round | To par |
|---|---|---|
| Min Woo Lee | 62 | -8 |
| Viktor Hovland | — | -6 |
| Chris Gotterup | — | -6 |
| Collin Morikawa | — | -6 |
| Scottie Scheffler | 65 | -5 |
| Rory McIlroy | — | -2 |
Scheffler's 65 was bogey-free. McIlroy was two over early and recovered.
The equipment answer
Lee changed to heavier iron shafts before the tournament. His explanation was blunt: "It just got to a point where I was looking at what's in the bags of everyone else."
Golf's equipment stories are usually retrospective and unfalsifiable, but a shaft-weight change followed immediately by sixteen greens in regulation is at least a coherent one. Heavier shafts generally reduce dispersion at the cost of a little speed, which is the trade a player makes when he is hitting it far enough and not straight enough.
The field and the stakes
Thirty players. The rain meant preferred lies. Lee is trying to become the second consecutive Tour Championship winner without a PGA Tour victory in the same season, after Tommy Fleetwood took the 2025 FedExCup on the same terms.
Where it sits on Playdash
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Round one scores, greens in regulation, the quoted remark and field details as published in 2026 Tour Championship coverage. Scores for rounds after the first were not confirmed in the source consulted and are not stated here. Correct at the time of writing on 30 August 2026.