Top-ranked amateur Lee wins semifinal, now one away from history
PINEHURST, N.C. -- After a week full of autographs and adulation, Danny Lee is starting to feel like Tiger Woods at the U.S. Amateur.
One more victory, and he'll surpass him.
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| Danny Lee can surpass Tiger Woods as the youngest champ in U.S. Amateur history. (AP) |
If Lee -- who is 18 years, 1 month old -- beats Florida State sophomore Drew Kittleson in Sunday's 36-hole final, he would be six months and 29 days younger than Woods was when he won his first Amateur in 1994.
"I'm just having a really, really good week," Lee said. "Everything I hit, everything I putt just falls in the hole."
By advancing to the finals, Lee and Kittleson earned exemptions into next year's U.S. Open and probable invitations to the Masters, as long as they remain amateurs.
"There is no way I'm going to turn pro," Lee said.
For the past week, all eyes have been on Lee. The world's top-ranked amateur and closest thing this event has to a celebrity will play competitive golf for the 11th consecutive day.
The medalist and match play winner at the Western Amateur tuned up for the Amateur last week by debuting on the PGA Tour, making the cut and tying for 20th at the Wyndham Championship across the state in Greensboro.
Though making light of his fatigue all week -- and tweaking his left shoulder while warming up for the quarterfinals -- the New Zealander has been nothing short of dominant at the renowned No. 2 course at Pinehurst.
He has trailed for only one hole in five match-play rounds, and until Saturday, never needed more than 15 holes to finish off his opponent.
Lee closed out the Georgia freshman with a par on the par-4 16th -- a hole he hadn't needed to play since the second round of stroke play four days earlier.
"He was always putting pressure on me," Lee said.
