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There were customary long-game fireworks but it was Min Woo Lee’s short game that came to the fore in Round 2 of the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters in Spain.
Lee began and ended the day in a share of the lead, his second round of four-under 67 getting him to nine-under and level with Spaniards Angel Hidalgo (63) and Adrian Otaegui (66).
A magnificent eagle set up by a second shot from 258 yards into three feet at the par-5 fourth was the backbone of Lee’s round, the two-time DP World Tour winner battling hard on the back nine with seven closing pars courtesy of some excellent recovery shots.
The leading trio are three shots clear of Swede Joakim Lagergren in fourth, with Scot Robert MacIntyre and Spain’s Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez another shot back on five-under.
Confirmed to play both the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship and ISPS HANDA Australian Open next month, Lee opened his round with a birdie after holing from 20 feet on the first green.
He did well to drop just one shot at the second, coolly converting his 14-foot bogey putt before responding with one of the shots of the day on the fourth, sending his approach to three feet to set up an eagle.
The fireworks kept on coming as Lee chipped in at the 10th before making another birdie at the 11th.
Two remarkable par saves followed on the 12th and 13th before his approach into the 16th hit the flag and landed almost 50 feet from the hole.
He managed to make par there before superbly executing a tough bunker shot to within three feet at the last for a closing par.
“It was a bit of a grind at the end,” Lee admitted.
“I made a lot of up-and-downs, it wasn’t easy.
“The greens got a little bumpy and the wind switched around.
“I played really good – front nine was solid, made a nice eagle on four, which was probably the highlight of the day. A lot of up-and-downs on the back nine.”
Queenslander Maverick Antcliff was the only other Aussie to make the cut, playing his way into the top 20 at the halfway mark with a second round of three-under 68.
Stephanie Kyriacou is also top 20 through two rounds of the Aramco Team Series New York on the Ladies European Tour.
Kyriacou is nine shots back of tournament leader Lexi Thompson in a tie for 18th following rounds of 72-73.
Marc Leishman and Jed Morgan have continued their form resurgences to be tied for ninth at the LIV Golf Jeddah Invitational and Cam Davis has moved inside the top 20 early in the third round of the PGA TOUR’s ZOZO Championship in Japan.
