THE PLAYERS Championship Round 2: Min Woo Lee’s Record, Wholesome McIlroy, 16th Hole Shocker & More

THE PLAYERS Championship is on, and with it, a bagful of memorable moments is on the way. While unfortunate moments like another round of suspension due to the weather may have grabbed the limelight, there were plenty of hilarious and heartwarming moments to offset them.

From Rory McIlroy being pushed down to a lower spot to Scottie Scheffler cementing his place at T6, and even Wyndham Clark only increasing his lead at the top, round two was full of leaderboard shuffles. However, many moments aside from the scores and rise and fall in ranks grabbed the spotlight too!

Top moments of the second round at THE PLAYERS Championship

5. The Min Woo Lee putt: It’s the iconic No. 17 again. But this time it’s not a hole-in-one but the longest putt made by a golfer since 2003. What’s more, the 60-foot shot that Lee holed, helped him secure a birdie, resulting in his one-under-par round. Undoubtedly, the three bunny hops and the three high fives that followed the putt were well deserved.

The accolade was just 9 feet and 7 inches short of Jhonattan Vegas’s shot during the 2019 PLAYERS Championship when he dished out the longest putt ever during the event’s final round. Vegas’ putt helped him place 3rd on the leaderboard with a final score of 14 under. And even though Lee’s feat pales in comparison, it helped him above the cutline by a stroke, and hence it was one to celebrate!

4. A McIlroy fan in the rough: Who said golf is just for humans? Well, even if someone did, McIlroy’s fans wouldn’t care. Surprisingly, the word ‘fans’ here refers to a frog who wanted to see the Northern Irishman’s gameplay up close. Interestingly, when the PGA Tour star was trying to chip his ball back to the greens from the rough at the par-3, third hole, the amphibian was lurking around for a better look.

Undoubtedly, the croaker wouldn’t have been too happy with the Northern Irishman’s performance there, for McIlroy went on to card a bogey at the hole. This was just one of the four bogeys and a double bogey he made on the second day of play, pushing him down from T1 on Thursday to T14 on Friday.

3. The true sportsman Jordan Spieth: Although the American pro did not have the best of days at The PLAYERS Championship, he made sure the fans had theirs. The 30-year-old failed to make the cut for the weekend but still soon after went on to sign his autograph for his dear fans who appeared on the course to cheer him on.

Spieth registered figures of 73-72 to score a 2-over par over the two days of play. Intriguingly, he had been engaged in a frosty interaction with McIlroy with regard to the DropGate controversy. Regardless, he did not let the unfortunate times get to him and finished his time off at TPC with some heartwarming fan service.

2. Brandon Wu’s almost ace: What could have been an iconic ace on the par-5 No.16 at TPC Sawgrass climbed right back up the flag stick as it nearly missed a dunk on the hole. Interestingly, had he made the shot, the golfer would have been able to score an albatross, which would have saved him from the projected cutline.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case; the athlete placed at T82 with numbers of 1 over par and scores of 75-70 over the two rounds. The spectacular shot helped him card a lone eagle on the second day of play, along with three birdies and three bogeys, but it was still in vain.

1. McIlroy and Kyler, a bond built over a decade: The friendship that the Northern Irishman shares with Kyler Aubrey is well-known in the golf world. The interaction was nothing short of heartwarming, as the 4-time major champ went ahead to compliment his fan on the hat he wore before signing his autograph on the merchandise.

The golfer met Kyler in 2012 at the PGA Championship and has known him since then. A decade later, he met him again at the CJ Cup, and he even joked about how McIlroy had known him longer than his wife, whom he met the same year as Kyler but at the Ryder Cup. The warmth doesn’t stop there. The 34-year-old celebrated his CJ Cup win with the youngster, embracing him and inviting him to the DP World Tour Championship that was to take place later that year in November. Undoubtedly, he is the No. 1 golfer in the world for Kyler, regardless of his OWGR status.

There were a lot more instances on the course that turned the heads of many fans in the community, but these certainly topped the list. And with two more days remaining of golf’s ‘Fifth Major’, there are plenty more yet to come!

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