South Korea’s K.H. Lee seemed to have found the key to his breakthrough victory on the PGA Tour on Sunday at the AT&T Bryon Nelson thanks to a winning combination of a change in attitude, a change in putters and a consistent dream of making it to the winner’s circle.
The 29-year-old Lee also survived a two-hour, 23-minute curveball courtesy of Mother Nature as heavy rains and lightning halted play on Sunday with the leaders on the 16th green. Despite making bogey when play resumed, Lee rebounded to finish birdie-birdie and prevail by three strokes over Sam Burns to become the third South Korean player to win the Texas event along with defending champion Sung Kang and 2013 winner Sang-Moon Bae.
“Long day for me, I think for everybody,” said Lee, who was greeted at 18 following his win by Kang and K.J. Choi, to whom Lee affectionately referred to as “Big Daddy.” “I just try to keep patient and positive thinking.”
Lee began the tournament as a +15000 longshot but opened with back-to-back scores of 65. He followed that up with a bogey-free, 5-under 67 on Saturday put him one stroke behind 54-hole leader Burns, who recently secured his first career Tour win at the Valspar Championship two weeks ago. Lee vaulted into the lead thanks to a red-hot front nine that featured five birdies and a lone bogey. His 25-under, 263 total set the record for lowest 72-hole score to par at the Byron Nelson since 1983 (previously 23-under par).
“I mean, so excited now and long time wait this situation, so I’m very thankful and excited,” said Lee, who admitted he often dreamt of winning on Tour but “almost forgot everything” upon finally doing so. “Unbelievable feeling now. … With my wife, it’s my wife pregnant, so left two months, so I can’t wait — two months — so everything is so thankful and excited.”
Lee, whose previous-best Tour finish was a T-2 at this year’s Phoenix Open in February, credited his strong iron play throughout the week but also a change in putters, putting an Odyssey Toulon San Diego blade-style putter into play recently. It worked: He carded 28 birdies — second-most in the field — against just three bogeys over 72 holes and was sixth in putts-per-green in regulation as well as ninth in Strokes Gained: Putting. He also ranked second in SG: Approach and picked up more than eight shots on the field while hitting 58 of 72 greens (80.56 percent), which tied for fifth.
He also had the help of a little insider knowledge of TPC Craig Ranch, which was hosting the event for the first time, thanks to caddie Brett Waldman, who played the course in 2010 during PGA Tour Q-School.
The victory marked Lee’s fifth professional win (two wins in Japan, two in Korea) and moved him to No. 29 in the FedExCup standings. The expectant father is projected to break the top 60 in the Official World Golf Rankings as well. He earns a customary two-year exemption on Tour as well as a spot in next week’s PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.
Spieth posts strong showing
Jordan Spieth recorded his career best finish at his hometown event, finishing T-9 (63-70-66-71=270, 18-under) for his seventh top-10 finish in his last nine starts and his fourth consecutive top 10.
Spieth grabbed a share of the 18-hole lead with a sizzling 63 on Thursday, his first tournament round since the final round of the Masters. The three-time major winner revealed to media early in the week that he contracted COVID-19 following Augusta, which forced an unplanned, month-long break.
However, the Dallas native showed minimal signs of rust and played the par-5 holes in 11-under par for the week, highlighted by first- and third-round eagles at No. 18. He struggled slightly on Sunday with his putter (30 on the day), but he hit 8 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens.
“Today was a little disappointing,” he said following his round. “It just was tough. What a battle. We don’t normally get rain in Texas without electricity very often, and so that was definitely a test, but it was fun. I thought the tournament was great out here, and after having a month off just kind of coming out and hitting a lot of good shots, picking back up where I left off, was a big confidence boost.”
Not so great Day
World No. 62 Jason Day missed his third straight cut after shooting 70-69=139 to miss by a stroke. Day struggled with his putter on Thursday and hit only 5 of 14 fairways on Friday, but what put the 33-year-old Australian in the headlines this week was news he’ll skip qualifying for the U.S. Open if he doesn’t make it in via the world rankings (the top 60 on May 24 and June 7 earn automatic invitations).
“I’m not going to qualify – I’ve got to earn my way into that spot,” Day told reporters on Wednesday. “It’s nothing against qualifying for a tournament. It’s just that in my mind, I’ve got to earn it. … It’s interesting to be in this situation. To be honest, I’m totally content where I am right now. I’m here for a reason. What do I need to do to get out of it and push forward and get my ranking back where it needs to be?”
Complicating the situation is that Day’s wife, Ellie, is expecting their fourth child within weeks. Day is now 10-for-17 on cuts made this season with two top-10 results (T-7 at Pebble Beach, T-7 at Houston Open). The 2015 PGA Championship winner will have another shot to improve his rankings next week at Kiawah Island after dropping to No. 65 with his missed cut at the Nelson.
Keopka ‘dramatically better’ but still struggling
World No. 12 Brooks Koepka announced his right knee was “dramatically better” ahead of his start at TPC Craig Ranch, his first since missing the cut at the Masters, but he shot 71-70=141 to miss out on weekend action by three strokes.
Koepka, who had surgery on his right knee March 16 to deal with a kneecap dislocation and ligament damage, told media Wednesday that he’s in a “completely new place now” but admitted he’s not completely back to normal: he still can’t squat fully to read putts and occasionally doesn’t load on his right side throughout the swing with his longer clubs.
“Months ahead of schedule,” he said, “so it’s just nice to be back out and being able to play golf and actually hit shots that I want to hit, unlike I was doing at Augusta.”
Despite the struggles this season, the 31-year-old Koepka is 6-for-11 on the season with four top-10 results including a victory at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He notched the win in Phoenix despite coming into the event off three straight missed cuts and followed it up with a T-2 at the WGC-Workday Championship two weeks later.
Next up: PGA Championship
The Tour heads east to Kiawah Island for the second major in 2021, the PGA Championship. Collin Morikawa will look to defend his first-ever major at the site of Rory McIlroy’s historic 2012 victory at the Ocean Course.
McIlroy, whose eight-shot win at Kiawah in 2012 is the largest winning margin in PGA Championship history, arrives off a “W” at the Wells Fargo Championship in his last start. Meanwhile, Morikawa also comes in already a winner this year, having captured the WGC-Workday Championship title in February.
Also in the field… Spieth will make his fifth start in the event and aims to complete the career Grand Slam at the PGA, the lone major that has eluded him thus far. Rickie Fowler will look to end a prolonged slide after receiving a special exemption from the PGA of America. Two-time champion Koepka (2018, 2019) will look to extend his cut streak to nine, while 2017 champion Justin Thomas looks increase his streak to six.
World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, who withdrew from the Byron Nelson due to ongoing discomfort with his surgically repaired left knee, will make his first start since a T-48 finish two weeks ago at the Valspar Championship. “I am not pleased about this situation, as I was really looking forward to playing this week,” he said in a statement. Johnson, who finished T-2 at last year’s PGA and solo second in 2019, has finished outside the top 25 in five of his last six starts.