Min Woo Lee sinks monster eagle putt to join Adam Scott, Lucas Herbert in contention at the Travellers Championship
Min Woo Lee has sunk a monster putt in a barnstorming second round that saw him scamper up the leaderboard at the Travellers Championship in Connecticut.
Lee had to wait some 15 minutes for the fairway and green in front of him to clear, before sticking his second shot on the par-five 13th to just shy of 17 metres and draining the putt.
After the round, Lee said he was "a little nervous" in waiting for the groups in front to clear before paying his shots – a feeling familiar to the weekend hacks who wait for greens to clear before fatting their approach shots into a creek.
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"It was kind of a scary putt, but I ended up draining it and it was really good," he said.
"I felt like I deserved that one because there was a lot of putts that I just missed, so it was nice to steal that one."
Min Woo Lee gives a high-five to his caddy after sinking a monster putt. Supplied
The 24-year-old Perthling made birdie at the first, sixth and fourteenth to go with his eagle to climb nine places on the leaderboard and sit in a tie for seventh at nine under, still some six shots off joint leaders Denny McCarthy and Keegan Bradley.
Lee wasn't even supposed to be playing this weekend. He was booked to spend the weekend watching his sister Minjee chase glory at the Women's PGA Championship before his top 10 at the US Open last weekend secured him last-minute entry.
Adam Scott and Cameron Davis join Lee in the top 10, the only non-Americans in the top 10. Jason Day also made the cut a further four shots behind.
McCarthy followed his first-round 60 with a 65 in the morning at TPC River Highlands. A few hours later, Bradley shot a 63 to go with his opening 62.
McCarthy and Bradley broke the 36-hole mark of 14 under set by Justin Rose in 2010 and matched last year by Xander Schauffele in his run to the title.
"It's nice, but golf tournaments aren't 36 holes unfortunately," McCarthy said. "I know there's still a lot of golf left and I'm playing some really nice golf, so I'm looking forward to having fun this weekend."
Bradley had a blistering back nine, making five birdies in a row between the 12th and 16th holes. He had just under 53 metres of made putts and after every big make he held his putter in front of him with two fingers and bowed before handing it to his caddie.
"We just pay our respects … If the putter is working, we'll do whatever just to keep it going. We just bow and say, 'Thank you'."
Adam Scott has been strong with the putter through the first two rounds. Getty
Rory McIlroy was tied for 10th at eight under after a 64. He had a double bogey on the par-three eighth, the hole he aced on Thursday for his first hole-in-one on the PGA Tour. This time, McIlroy put his tee shot in the water.
"I hit a pretty good shot, I just misjudged the wind a little bit and it came up short in the one place you couldn't miss today," he said. "But, other than that, it was a really good round of golf."
McIlroy got a break on his last hole when his tee shot landed on a cable trench behind a tree on the ninth hole. He was given relief by a tournament official, but hit a limb on his approach shot, which still landed just short of the green, where he managed to get up and down for par.
Lucas Herbert and his caddie. Getty
Schauffele also was eight under after a 64. Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler reached seven under with a 70.
Wyndham Clark, the US Open champion on Sunday in Los Angeles who arrived here on Wednesday, had a 67 to get to five under. He spent the first part of the week in New York, appearing on numerous talk shows.
A light rain left the greens soft, helping keep the scores low. The cut line was at four under, with Masters champion Jon Rahm dropping out with rounds of 67 and 71.
With heavy rain expected early in the third round, the players will start later in threesomes off both the first and 10th tees.
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