GREENSBORO, N.C. – After accepting a sponsor’s exemption and finishing tied for 20th at the 2008 Wyndham Championship, New Zealand amateur golfer Danny Lee won the United States Amateur. Yesterday, he won the European PGA Tour Johnny Walker Classic in Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Lee, 18, birdied the last two holes to win the tournament by one stroke over three European PGA Tour professionals who tied for second place. Lee is now the youngest winner ever in a European Tour event.
“It still feels like I’m in dreamland. Hopefully no-one wakes me up,” Lee said. “I was dreaming about winning, but my goal was to make the cut after two rounds and to try to get into the top 20 or top ten. I played extremely well the last few days and yeah, here I am. You know winning a European Tour event; it’s pretty amazing what I’ve done.”
At the Wyndham Championship last August, Lee recorded four rounds in the 60s at Sedgefield Country Club to finish in a six-way tie for 20th place. Lee’s 20th-place finish was the best finish by an amateur in the Wyndham Championship since Ryan Moore finished tied for 24th in 2004.
“It was fun to watch Danny have such a strong showing in the Wyndham Championship last year,” tournament director Mark Brazil said. “He left here and won the US Amateur, and now he’s the youngest winner ever on the European Tour. That’s pretty impressive. We were fortunate to see his game up close last August, and it’s a safe bet he has an impressive career ahead of him.”
Last August, Lee also became the youngest winner of the United States Amateur. He won the Western Amateur in July and plans to turn professional after playing in The Masters in April. The last player to win a PGA TOUR event as an amateur was Phil Mickelson, who won the Northern Telecom Open by one stroke over Tom Purtzer.
The 70th Wyndham Championship is set for Aug. 17-23, 2009 at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C. Tickets will be available online at wyndhamchampionship.com or through the tournament office. The tournament thanks title sponsor Wyndham Worldwide and Premier Partners, BB&T, Harris Teeter, Lincoln Financial and VF Corporation for their continued support. Additional tournament information is available at wyndhamchampionship.com or through the tournament office at (336) 379-1570. For more information about Wyndham Worldwide, please visit www.wyndhamworldwide.com.
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