Danny Lee: New World Number One
BY Anthony Powter | 03 Aug 2008
New Zealand’s Danny Lee has become the new world number one amateur following his recent stellar performances in the US.
Lee secured the top ranking from American Rickie Fowler overnight at the Western Amateur in Michigan after taking the Medallist honours on Friday. Lee has been able to keep his momentum going at Western with dual wins in his opening matchplay encounters to make Sunday’s semi-finals.
It was only a week ago during the practice round at the Porter Cup that Lee was telling iseekgolf.com how disappointed he’d been with his iron play.
“My iron play has let me down lately, especially last week at the Southern Amateur,” said the world number six at the time.
His best US result at that point had been a T7 finish at the Dogwood Invitational. Whilst appearing a little disappointed with himself, there was also a stern determination in his voice that he had fixed the issue.
Lee had spent hours on the range the week before at the Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, Florida. The only person with him was his uncle and American travel companion this tour, Rambert Sim. Both have looked after each other during the solid three months on the road between British Open qualifying and competing in all major US amateur tournaments.
The solitude Lee enjoyed in Florida ended up paying dividends as he secured the William C. Campbell Award following the Porter Cup. A prize given to the player to record the low aggregate score in the Northeast Amateur, Players Amateur and Porter Cup. Lee finished even-par, 6-under-par and 1-under-par in each of the respective tournaments, for a combined 7-under-par total.
“My iron and ball striking became a little better at the Porter,” said Lee following the presentation ceremony. “I’m driving the ball better with this driver and I’m feeling that I’m starting to play some of my best golf.”
How true those words would become.
With a new TaylorMade Burner driver in his bag, Lee has been able to keep the ball on the short grass on American layouts, which typically requires and rewards accurate play. The equipment switch possibly the essential difference to Lee’s last fortnight of stunning play.
“The fairways at all these tournaments are very narrow, probably the toughest we’ve played yet and if you miss them it’s hard to get the ball to hold on the greens when you are coming out of the rough.”
“I’m really happy with the way I’m now playing after having some trouble with my irons.”
That’s Lee, a perfectionist who is totally dedicated to every detail of his game, yet doesn’t get lost in the specifics of the swing. The whiz kid from Rotorua in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand packs a tight punch of powerful driving, with the deathly touch of wonderful creativity around the greens. It makes an impressive package.
It was at this year’s Lake Macquarie Amateur where we got our first real look at Lee’s game, although Lee had been on the radar for some time as he was moving through the world junior ranks.
As a junior, Lee had finished runner-up at the 2007 Callaway World Junior Championships in the 15-17 years age group in the same year where he secured four amateur championships in New Zealand, including the New Zealand Amateur Championship and the New Zealand Under 23 Championship.
Lee, then ranked 9th in the world, obliterated one of the strongest international fields assembled in Australasia at the Lake Macquarie Amateur with superb driving to win his first international title with a tournament equalling record 20-under-par, ten shots ahead of nearest rival and Australia’s top-ranked amateur Matthew Griffin.
He was justifiably proud of his achievement.
“This is special,” Lee said. “It’s special because it’s my first international amateur victory outside of New Zealand.”
Having just witnessed a masterful display of golf, it was immediately apparent that there would be more victories coming Lee’s way in the future.
Lee first picked up a club as an 8-year-old under the watchful eye of his mother, herself a Korean golf professional, before moving to New Zealand when he was ten. His rise to the world number one position came just ten days after his 18th birthday, itself a reflection of what an exciting young talent Lee is on the world golfing stage.
The early signs that Lee would reach the top of the amateur rankings were also there during this year’s Australian Amateur championships at Royal Adelaide in South Australia.
Lee, in his quarter-final match defeated Matthew Griffin, arguably one of the hottest players in Australia. Leading in to the Australian Amateur, Griffin had secured two national titles and had recorded seven top-ten finishes from eight starts. Griffin’s form and six years seniority did not faze Lee in the slightest.
Irrespective of what transpires at the Western Amateur this week in Michigan, Danny Lee rightfully deserves to be holding the number one position in what is his first year on the world amateur stage.
To say he’s a talent would be an understatement. Lee is undoubtedly one of the most exciting young prospects to hit the sport and we will be hearing about him for some time to come.
