NEW ZEALAND amateur Danny Lee became the youngest winner of a European Tour tournament when he captured the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth, Australia, yesterday.
The teenager carded a closing, five-under-par 67 at The Vines Resort and Country Club to finish on 17 under, one shot ahead of Ross McGowan of England, Hiroyuki Fujita of Japan and Chile’s Felipe Aguilar.
At the age of 18 years and 213 days, Lee surpassed the record of Dale Hayes at the 1971 Spanish Open, and became only the second amateur after 2007 Estoril Open de Portugal champion Pablo Martin to win on the Tour.
He showed nerves of steel to secure the title with a birdie on the final hole in the €1.4 million event, which is sanctioned by the European, Asian and Australasian Tours.
Of course, as an amateur he was not allowed to accept the first prize of just under €236,000 – that was shared by McGowan, Aguilar and Fujita – but he did earn himself a Tour exemption until the end of 2011.
The young star did show some nerves when he faced the media after his momentous victory.
“My English is not 100 per cent and I get really nervous when I’m doing the media stuff. It doesn’t mean I hate it, because I like it,” said Lee, who was born in South Korea but moved to New Zealand at the age of eight.
“It still feels like I’m in dreamland. Hopefully no one wakes me up.
“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 10. 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.”
Lee entered the final round two shots behind co-leaders McGowan and John Bickerton and was still in the chasing pack on 13 under through his first 12 holes.
But the New Zealander, who also became the youngest winner of the US Amateur Open last August, accelerated down the closing holes.
Lee, who will turn professional after the Masters, is setting his sights extremely high.
“I can’t compare to Tiger Woods because he’s one of the greatest players in the world and he’s the number one ranked player in the world.
“All I want to do is just break what he’s done. Obviously I can’t win three US Amateurs in a row, but I’ll try to break his records on the PGA Tour.”
Lee’s win came just three weeks after Rory McIlroy became only the sixth teenager to win on the Tour.
European Tour Youngest winners
18 years 213 daysDanny Lee (New Zealand) 2009 Johnnie Walker Classic
18 years 290 daysDale Hayes (South Africa) 1971 Spanish Open
19 years 121 daysSeve Ballesteros (Spain) 1976 Dutch Open
19 years 149 daysPaul Way (England)1982 Dutch Open
19 years 176 daysSergio Garcia (Spain) 1999 Irish Open
19 years 191 daysBallesteros 1976 Lancome Trophy
19 years 267 daysSergio Garcia (Spain)1999 German Masters
19 years 273 daysRory McIlroy (N Ireland)2009 Dubai Desert Classic
19 years 331 daysAaron Baddeley (Australia) 2001 Greg Norman Holden International
