Min Woo Lee’s Masters run-in rocked by double fitness blow in Aussie Augusta carnage

A freak gym mishap and a bout of flu have added to a growing list of setbacks for the Australian contingent at Augusta.

Michael WarnerAugusta National

3 min read

April 10, 2024 - 5:23PM

Masters: The 5 greatest shots pulled off

Golf

Don't miss out on the headlines from Golf. Followed categories will be added to My News.

A freak gym mishap and a bout of flu has endangered Min Woo Lee’s prospects at Augusta.

Lee broke a finger after dropping a dumbbell during a workout at home last week.

“I was just doing a side bridge glute thing and it was literally my last rep and I like threw the dumbbell down and somehow clipped my right ring finger,” Lee revealed after a Masters practice round on Tuesday.

“I went to the doctor and I thought it was okay because I could move it. It was just red. I thought it would be fine. Then they came in and said, you’ve broken it.

“So, yeah, a lot of anxiety. This is the first time telling the public. We didn’t know as a team to tell or to not, and I felt like I should tell people because there was a lot of the pressure on me I guess playing well.”

Lee’s Masters prep went from bad to worse when he came down with the flu two days ago, but he said neither ailment would stop him from teeing it up on Thursday.

“It’s actually amazing how fast the (finger) recovery was. It was bruised, still swollen, but not actually that painful, which is really strange,” he said.

Min Woo Lee and his strapped up ring finger. Picture: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Fellow Australian Cameron Smith is also recovering from an untimely dose of food poisoning suffered at last week’s LIV event in Miami.

And a resurgent Jason Day will also have to battle an outbreak of Tiger mania if he’s to salute at Augusta.

Day, who has climbed back to No.21 in the world, was drawn to play alongside five-time champion Tiger Woods and fellow American Max Homa in the opening two rounds of the Masters.

“That’s exciting. I’m happy about that,” Day said of the Woods grouping.

“That’s a good pairing. I had no idea. As long as I beat that old man, I’m happy.”

Smith is grouped with Victor Hovland and US Open winner Wyndam Clark.

“A bit of food poisoning at the start of last week and probably just tried to do a little bit too much and my body just kind of shut down on me,” Smith said.

“I spent the weekend in bed, which wasn’t the greatest preparation, but I was just saying that today is probably the first day where I feel like I’ve got a little bit of energy. I’m sure I’ll be pretty cooked tonight.”

Cameron Smith is on the mend. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images

Adam Scott, the owner of Australia’s only green jacket, has drawn a late afternoon slot, while Lee tees off in the morning.

The star Australian foursome played a practice round together on Augusta’s back nine on Tuesday afternoon.

Rain and thunderstorms are forecast for Thursday ahead of better conditions on Friday and the weekend.

Asked if Augusta owed him one after a series of near misses, Day said: “No, Augusta doesn’t owe anyone”.

“I’ve just got to not think about it, not get too worked up about it. To be honest, just trying to get my ball going straight where I need it to go, so that’s kind of taken most of the pressure off my head.

“It’s going to be fun knowing I’m playing with Tiger and Max the first two rounds. That’s exciting. Obviously I’m looking forward to the challenge, especially the first two days. It’s going to be tough.”

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are paired in a mid-morning slot on Thursday.