Lee trails the trio of clubhouse leaders by just one shot after a producing a brilliant front nine and a touch of magic at the last in a first-round five-under-par 67.
Former US Open champion Lucas Glover, fellow American JJ Spaun and Colombian Camilo Villegas share top spot after starting the PGA Tour's flagship event with six-under 66s.
But Lee is hot on their heels after rolling in five birdies to reach the turn at five under before scrambling for a miracle par at the 18th to complete a rollercoaster back nine.
The West Australian hit a wild tee shot way right, left his second in the pine straws short of the fairway after trying to chip out and drained a 20-foot downhill putt to keep the momentum going.
"I was just very happy to have a par putt," Lee said.
"I literally had no (second) shot. I had an opportunity to kind of go over the grandstand, and if it ended up in the grandstand I would get a drop.
"But that was still a tough shot pitching it back this way.
"It was nice to have a par putt and, yeah, managed to sneak it in on the right edge. It summed up the day. It was a really solid day."
Lee mostly ditched his driver, using a two iron "six or seven" times instead.
The tactics worked wonders with his only bogey of the round coming after he dunked his second shot in the water on the par-5 11th.
The 26-year-old played in the final group at TPC Sawgrass in 2023 with world No.1 Scottie Scheffler, eventually sharing sixth for his first PGA Tour top-10 finish.
"I just love playing this course. It just suits so well," Lee said.
"Driver is a weapon of mine, but I love hitting that two-iron everywhere, and if it's a little firm, it kind of plays into my hands."
Riding high after his breakthrough victory at last week's Puerto Rico Open, fellow Australian Karl Vilips had to settle for an even-par 72 after coming unstuck down the stretch.
With three straight birdies, Viilps got it to four under before dropping four shots in his last four holes, including incurring two penalty strokes.
After starting on the 10th tee, Vilips racked up a dreaded double on the par-4 sixth and compounded the blunder with bogeys on the seventh and ninth holes.
Fellow Australians Adam Scott (74) and Cam Davis (76) fared even worse, while in-form Jason Day withdrew on the eve of the tournament with an unspecified illness.
The Players' champion in 2016, Day tied for eighth at last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Glover set the early pace on Thursday with four birdies in his last four holes to seize a two-shot clubhouse lead.
Enjoying a new lease of life since switching to a long putter in 2023, the former US Open champion was the story of the morning as he bounced back from a birdie-bogey-bogey start after teeing off at the par-four 10th.
"There's always some really good scores and always some really bad scores around here. The margins are razor thin, akin to say Augusta or Bay Hill," Glover said.
Spaun and Villegas matched Glover's 66 in the more difficult afternoon conditions.
Scheffler opened with a 69 as he chases an unprecedented third straight Players' Championship win.
With AAP.
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