Min Woo Lee has been one of the PGA Tour’s leaders in driving distance the past two years and in fact, he’s second on the Tour in average ball speed so far this season, averaging 187 mph on 175 measured tee shots.
But on Thursday at the par-4 7th at TPC Sawgrass during the first round of the Players, Lee’s ball speed was just 172 mph, nearly 2 mph below PGA Tour average.
So what happened?
Well as you can probably guess, Lee didn’t badly mishit his tee shot at 7, but instead, he used a 2-iron.
The numbers were:
Clubhead speed: 115.2 mph
Ball speed: 172.3 mph
Launch Angle: 6.75 degree
Apex height: 111 feet
Flight time: 7.5 seconds
Carry: 270 yards
Total: 275 yards
Those numbers would be great for almost anyone else’s driver and at TPC Sawgrass, the club essentially is his driver as Lee uses the Callaway X Forged UT ’21 18-degree utility iron on as many as seven tee shots at TPC Sawgrass.
And Lee has given us little reason to doubt the strategy as he finds himself tied at the top of the leaderboard through two rounds at this year’s Players Championship in just his third appearance at TPC Sawgrass. Lee’s course history is rather good too, as he is now three-for-three in made cuts here, including a solo sixth-place finish in his debut two years ago.
After his six-under 66 Friday that put him in a share of the lead, Lee cited his 2-iron as the reason he’s so comfortable at TPC Sawgrass.
“I’m using that a lot and it’s a pretty good weapon of mine,” Lee said. “So I can kind of draw it and hit it straight and it goes a long way. When I hit it good it goes, ends up going a long way. That helps. Then you have short clubs into holes, so, yeah I would love to hit 2-iron everywhere but obviously you can’t.”
On the 6th hole, which has a new tee with a newly restored overhanging tree forcing a lower launch off the tee, Lee said he used a 4-iron instead of the 2-iron because he could have potentially run through the fairway.
Nice problem to have.
As he comfortably averages 320 yards off the tee with his driver, you would think driver would be one of Lee’s biggest weapons. TPC Sawgrass has rarely ever been considered a bomber’s course and Lee appreciates the ability to get creative with his 2-iron or other clubs off the tee.
“It’s just a variety of shots,” he said. “I love how I can step up and hit that 2-iron, but there’s holes where you can hit driver and bomb it down there. So it’s cool.”
Here are Lee’s specs for his 2-iron.
Min Woo Lee’s 2-iron specs
Callaway X Forged UT ’21
Loft: 19˚@ 18˚
Lie: 59˚
Shaft: True Temper AMT Tour White X100
Length: 39.5″
Swingweight: D4
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