Min Woo Lee Goes Low Despite Bizarre Leg Cramp at the Players

The Australian pro has a strange suspicion as to where the cramp came from.

You know what they say: Beware of the injured golfer. 

Australia’s Min Woo Lee epitomized that expression on Thursday morning at the Players Championship when he shot a 4-under 68 despite battling a sudden cramp in his calf muscle during his last four holes

When Lee stepped up to TPC Sawgrass’s 15th tee, he was 5 under par for the tournament. All of a sudden, it looked as if Lee wouldn’t be able to hold on to that solid start when he hobbled away from the tee box with a cramped up right calf. 

Throughout the next four holes, Lee had a PGA Tour physiotherapist following him to work on the muscle in between shots. Despite the setback, Lee managed to make a par at the 15th and a birdie at 16. Although he finished with back-to-back bogeys on 17 and 18, Lee’s 68 is a stellar score, injury or no injury. 

"Oh my god I just got a cramp." 

Leader Min Woo Lee is playing through pain on his back nine in Round 1. pic.twitter.com/EWeofKKz7g

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 9, 2023

Although Lee has never experienced such a cramp, he has a bizarre suspicion about where it may have originated from.  

“It was a weird one because I had never experienced that before. It was kind of a funny story. I thought I had—at the beginning of the week I thought I had an allergic reaction to the electrolytes I was having, and if you don't have electrolytes you get cramps and then I got a cramp. Yeah, it put the puzzle pieces together, and that's what happened,” Lee said. 

Apparently, Lee has been ingesting less electrolytes than he normally does because of an apparent allergic reaction to a sports drink. Lee told the media that the allergy attack was more than a minor issue for him prior to the start of the week. 

“I don't want to show you my face when it was a few days ago, but it was swollen and it was bad and lots of red. It wasn't ideal. It got to the point where I came here on Sunday and I couldn't even go out on the course because my eyes were half shut,” Lee said. “I’m pretty happy to be standing here talking to you guys right now. 

Luckily, Lee’s allergy attack subsided in time for him to get in a practice round or two at TPC Sawgrass. 

As for the calf, Lee explained that he overextended the muscle during the round. He’ll continue to receive treatment on the strain over the course of the afternoon in advance of Round 2.

Lee’s calf injury wasn’t the only new factor at play during his first round at the Players. The DP World Tour player also experimented with lining up his putts for the first time, and the strategy seemed to be working on Thursday. 

“It was like a yesterday thing, the day before, I just started to line it up just because I didn't feel like I was starting it on line,” Lee said. “Usually when it does, I putt pretty good, and it's just been a couple rounds that it just—everything was leaking right, so I just thought, aim it, and it worked out well.”