- Danny Lee (golfer)
-
Danny Lee 
Personal information Full name Danny Jin-Myung Lee Born 24 July 1990
Incheon, South KoreaHeight 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Weight 168 lb (76 kg; 12.0 st) Nationality 
New ZealandResidence Irving, Texas, U.S. Career Turned professional 2009 Current tour(s) European Tour
Nationwide TourProfessional wins 2 Number of wins by tour European Tour 1 Asian Tour 1 PGA Tour of Australasia 1 Nationwide Tour 1 Best results in Major Championships Masters Tournament CUT: 2009 U.S. Open DNP The Open Championship DNP PGA Championship DNP Achievements and awards Mark H. McCormack Medal 2008 Danny Jin-Myung Lee (born 24 July 1990) is a professional golfer from Rotorua, New Zealand. Lee was born in South Korea and emigrated to New Zealand at the age of eight.[1] His name in Hangul is 이진명. He became a naturalized New Zealander[2] on 2 September 2008 at Rotorua, where he attended Rotorua Boys' High School.
Contents
Amateur career
Lee became the youngest ever winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship in August 2008, aged 18 years and one month,[3] six months younger than Tiger Woods when he won in 1994. His age record was broken the following year by 17-year-old An Byeong-hun. He became number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking on 20 August 2008 and remained number one until he turned pro in April 2009. He holds the records for most consecutive weeks at number one and most total weeks at number one with 34. He was awarded the 2008 Mark H. McCormack Medal on 27 August.[4]
In February 2009, Lee won the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth, Australia, a professional tournament co-sanctioned by the European, Asian, and Australasian tours. He was the youngest ever winner on the European Tour, surpassing Dale Hayes, and only the second amateur winner after Pablo Martín.[5][6][7] The win took him to 159th place in the Official World Golf Rankings.[8]
Lee's first major was the 2009 Masters Tournament where his first round 74 put him in a position to make the cut. In the second round he was two under par on the front nine, putting him in even better position to make the cut of two over. But he started the back nine with a quintuple bogey on the 10th, taking him to five over for the tournament and he was not able to recover, eventually finishing 11 over par.
Professional career
2009: Bid for PGA Tour status falls short
Lee turned professional after the 2009 Masters Tournament,[9] forfeiting his guaranteed entry into the 2009 U.S. Open and the 2009 British Open as the 2008 U.S. Amateur champion.
In April, Lee signed a two-year endorsement contract with Callaway Golf, to use Callaway clubs, balls, and signage on his clothes. The company has not released how much his contract is worth, but sources say it is for US$1 million per year.[10]
Lee was allowed to use seven sponsor exemptions during the PGA Tour season, and gained three other starts courtesy of his U.S. Amateur and Johnnie Walker Classic titles. His goal was to earn $537,958 which would have given him temporary membership and allowed him to receive an unlimited amount of invitations.[11] That figure is the amount earned by the player who finished 150th on the 2008 money list.
Lee made six out of eleven PGA Tour cuts after turning pro, with two top-25 finishes. He tied for 13th at the HP Byron Nelson Championship in May, and improved on his best finish in a PGA Tour event by finishing in a tie for 7th at the AT&T National in July. That top ten finish earned Lee a spot in the following week's John Deere Classic, meaning he did not have to use one of his two remaining sponsor exemptions.[12] The money from his T-7 finish put him $187,904 away from earning temporary status on tour. Lee missed the cut by two strokes at the John Deere Classic after bogeying the last two holes of his second round. Lee missed the cut again three weeks later at the Buick Open.
In August, Lee became the youngest player to play in a World Golf Championship event when he played the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.[13] He finished T51 at the event. He made the cut but did not finish at the Wyndham Championship two weeks later. He used his last sponsor exemption of the season to play in that tournament and did not earn enough money on tour to earn his card for 2010.
Lee then switched his focus to the European Tour, as well as playing selected events in Asia. He made his maiden appearance as a professional in Europe at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles where he finished T10.[14] As a drawcard for the Korea Open and the Coca-Cola Tokai Classic in Japan, he played the first two rounds of both events with fellow teen prodigy Ryo Ishikawa.
Lee entered the PGA Tour's qualifying school at the first stage level,[15] beginning his campaign in McKinney, Texas on 20 October.[16] Needing to finish in roughly the top third of the field, rounds of 72-78-69-76 saw him fall well short of advancing to the second stage.[17]
After arriving back in Asia for the Singapore Open, Lee cited swing changes, illness and cold weather as reasons for his disappointing performance in Texas, and confirmed an intention to play mainly on the European Tour in 2010.[18] He also announced he had signed Korean-born Suckki Jang, an affiliate of Hank Haney, as his new coach.[19] He then played the WGC-HSBC Champions, the Hong Kong Open, and represented New Zealand with David Smail at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup, all with limited success.
2010
Lee made a poor start to the 2010 season, making just two cuts in his first nine events on the European Tour.
On the eve of the BMW PGA Championship in May, Lee announced a new partnership with English caddy Peter Coleman, and a new coach, Bill Choung. "I finally feel that I am in the right position with my swing and that has got me really excited," Lee said.[20]
However, after receiving a sponsor's invite to play the RBC Canadian Open in July, Lee stated he was now without a swing coach. He added that he had been through several coaches since turning professional and had perhaps become too technical with his mechanics, and was now trying to focus more on playing than tweaking his swing.[21]
Lee eventually finished the Race to Dubai in 159th place, making 10 out of 20 cuts with a best finish of T21 at the BMW International Open in June.[22]
Late in the year, he successfully negotiated the first two stages of PGA Tour qualifying school in California.[23][24] At the final stage in Florida, Lee shot rounds of 74-72-69-65-72-74 to finish T64.[25] His placing earned him full Nationwide Tour playing rights, allowing him to plan a 35-event, two-tour itinerary for 2011.[26]
2011
Lee began a noticeable return to form a couple of months into the new year. A tie for 7th in the Chitimacha Louisiana Open was followed by a strong showing for 54 holes at the Malaysian Open, eventually being disqualified for signing an incorrect final round scorecard (denying him a tie for 17th).[27] The next week he tied for 2nd at the Volvo China Open, four shots behind winner Nicolas Colsaerts.[28]
In May, a tie for 5th in the Stadion Classic at UGA was followed by an outright third at the BMW Charity Pro-Am, lifting him to 10th on the Nationwide Tour's money list.[29].
In June he injured his left wrist during an Open Championship qualifier, forcing his withdrawal and a four-week break from competition.[30] Diagnosed as tendonitis, he worked with his caddy in American events, Jeff Belen, on grip and swing adjustments.[31] By early September he had posted three further Nationwide Tour top-10 finishes, including a tie for 2nd at the Cox Classic.
In early October Lee won the WNB Golf Classic in Texas, beating Harris English in a playoff. The $94,500 first prize lifted him to 4th on the money list, assuring him of a place inside the final money list's top 25, those being the players who gain PGA Tour cards for the following season.
"It feels great to win again," Lee said. "I haven't won a tournament since I won the 2009 Johnnie Walker Classic and it's a great feeling. It's not easy to win and I worked really hard with my uncle and my coach (Bill Choung) for this. I'm really happy it worked."[32] Lee credited the switch to a belly putter in this event as beneficial, and came after pulling out of the previous week's event after 27 holes citing his wrist injury.[33]
Lee finished sixth on tour with earnings of $326,100, making 13 of 18 cuts with nine top-10s. He had the season's lowest scoring average of 68.98.
Amateur wins (7)
- 2007 South Island Amateur (New Zealand), New Zealand Amateur
- 2008 Lake Macquarie Amateur, North Island Amateur (New Zealand), Western Amateur, U.S. Amateur
- 2009 Georgia Cup
Professional wins (2)
European Tour wins (1)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of victory Runner-up 1 22 Feb 2009 Johnnie Walker Classic (as an amateur)
(co-sanctioned with the Asian and Australasian Tours)-17 (67–68–69–67=271) 1 stroke 
Felipe Aguilar, 
Hiroyuki Fujita,
Ross McGowanNationwide Tour wins (1)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of victory Runner-up 1 2 Oct 2011 WNB Golf Classic -18 (64–72–68–66=270) Playoff 
Harris EnglishResults in major championships
Tournament 2009 The Masters CUT U.S. Open DNP The Open Championship DNP PGA Championship DNP DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10Results in World Golf Championship events
Tournament 2009 Accenture Match Play Championship DNP CA Championship DNP Bridgestone Invitational T51 HSBC Champions T66 DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.PGA Tour and European Tour career summary
PGA Tour European Tour Season Wins Earnings ($) Money list Wins Earnings (€) Order of Merit 2009 0 359,846 n/a † 0 62,222 193 2010 0 0 - 0 88,257 159 Career* 0 359,846 n/a 0 150,479 n/a - * Complete as of 28 November 2010.
- † Lee is not ranked on the PGA Tour's money lists because he is not a member.
Team appearances
- World Cup (representing New Zealand): 2009
See also
- 2011 Nationwide Tour graduates
References
- ^ 2008 U.S. Amateur - Meet The Quarterfinalists
- ^ "Golf: Danny Lee now officially a Kiwi". The New Zealand Herald. 2 September 2008. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/4/story.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10530201. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
- ^ U.S. Amateur: Move over Tiger, Lee supplants Woods
- ^ Danny Lee secures McCormack Medal after US Amateur win
- ^ Lee wins Johnnie Walker Classic
- ^ "Golf: Lee in dreamland after stunning win at Johnnie Walker Classic". The New Zealand Herald. 22 February 2009. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10558115. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
- ^ Lee pulls off upset win
- ^ Week 8 - Phil Mickelson Retains the Northern Trust Open Title and Moves up to World Number Three
- ^ World #1 Danny Lee Turns Pro
- ^ Danny Lee joins Callaway
- ^ Lee trying to earn temporary status on Tour
- ^ Lee qualifies for John Deere Classic
- ^ PGA Tour advice is good and bad for teenager Lee
- ^ "Danny Lee reflects on last round mixture". Stuff.co.nz. 31 August 2009. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/golf/2816917/Danny-Lee-reflects-on-last-round-mixture. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
- ^ 2009 Q-School application form
- ^ Q-School tournament info page: McKinney, TX
- ^ Q-School leaderboard: McKinney, TX
- ^ McGuire, Bernie (29 October 2009). "Lee switches focus to Europe". Stuff.co.nz. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/golf/3008734/Lee-switches-focus-to-Europe. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
- ^ "Lee signs coach with Tiger connections". Television New Zealand. 29 October 2009. http://tvnz.co.nz/golf-news/lee-signs-coach-tiger-connections-3101351. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
- ^ McGuire, Bernie (18 May 2010). "New caddy, coach boost Danny Lee". Stuff.co.nz. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/golf/3708999/New-caddy-coach-for-Lee. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
- ^ Remember Danny Lee?
- ^ 2010 European Tour results
- ^ Q-School Stage 1 leaderboard
- ^ Q-School Stage 2 leaderboard
- ^ Q-School Final Stage leaderboard
- ^ Davidson, Martin (1 April 2011). "Craig Perks warns Danny Lee over burnout". Stuff.co.nz. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/golf/4838626/Craig-Perks-warns-Danny-Lee-over-burnout. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
- ^ "Danny Lee disqualified from Malaysian Open". Stuff.co.nz. 19 April 2011. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/golf/4903729/Danny-Lee-disqualified-from-Malaysian-Open. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
- ^ "Danny Lee claims share of second in China". Stuff.co.nz. 25 April 2011. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/golf/4922899/Danny-Lee-claims-share-of-second-in-China. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
- ^ 2011 Nationwide Tour money list
- ^ Wrist Injury a Worry for Danny Lee
- ^ "Nationwide Tour's Rising Star" video
- ^ WNB Golf Classic R4 wrap-up
- ^ WNB Golf Classic, R1 wrap-up
External links
- Danny Lee at the European Tour official site
- Danny Lee at the PGA Tour official site
- Danny Lee at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
Categories:- South Korean golfers
- New Zealand golfers
- European Tour golfers
- New Zealand people of Korean descent
- People from Rotorua
- People from Incheon
- 1990 births
- Living people
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