We’ve all heard that TPC Sawgrass can be unforgiving, but Min Woo Lee gave us a front-row seat to just how brutal it can be. One moment, he was sitting at the top of the leaderboard, eyeing a career-defining victory. The next, he was battling swirling winds, penalty drops, and double bogeys in what turned into a painful freefall down the standings. Golf is cruel like that.

By the end of Saturday’s third round at the Players Championship, Lee had carded a six-over-par 78, dropping from first place to seven shots behind leader J.J. Spaun. It was a gut punch, no doubt, but if there’s one thing Lee doesn’t do, it’s sulk. Instead, he took to Instagram to acknowledge the setback while tipping his cap to the fans who stuck with him through it all.

“Brutal one today. Live and learn. Hope for a better one tomorrow. Support was very cool today,” he wrote. And just like that, with three simple words—”Live and learn”—Lee summed up the harsh reality of his round.

A nightmare in the fifth hole

For the first two rounds, Lee looked like a man on a mission. He fired off scores of 67 and 66, putting himself in a tie for the lead alongside Akshay Bhatia. Everything was working—until the third day lived up to its name, and not in the way he would’ve liked.

The chaos began at the par-4 fifth hole, where a gusty wind turned a routine tee shot into an absolute nightmare. Lee’s ball sailed far left, flying past some watchful spectators before disappearing into the bushes. From there, things only got messier. Forced to search for his ball before ultimately taking a penalty drop, Lee found himself in damage-control mode. “That can get really troublesome over there,” a commentator noted as the Aussie assessed his unfortunate situation. “There’s a little creek down there, it’s a messy spot.”

And messy it was. After finally managing to get the ball onto the green, Lee had a chance to save a bogey, but his putt slid past the hole. A tap-in followed, and what had started with a misfired tee shot turned into a disastrous double bogey. “It all began with the tee shot and 15 minutes later, we’re walking off with a double bogey,” the commentator added. From there, the momentum was gone. Another double bogey followed at the ninth, and Sawgrass showed no mercy for the rest of the round.

To his credit, Lee never gave up. Sure, his hopes of winning had faded, but he still kept grinding. His only birdie of the day came on the 18th, courtesy of a long-range putt from off the green. It didn’t erase the struggles of the round, but it was a small reminder of the talent that had put him in contention in the first place. By the time he walked off the course, he had dropped to T16, seven shots behind leader J.J. Spaun.

Now, climbing from T16 to the top with just one round left? Yeah, that doesn’t seem too realistic. But even if Min Woo Lee doesn’t make it to the winner’s list this time, it’s far from the end of the road. The season has just started, and there are plenty more tournaments ahead. Saturday was rough, but if golf—and Min Woo Lee—teaches us anything, it’s that there’s always another round and another chance to make things right.