Maiden PGA Tour Triumph for Korean Lee

Dallas, Texas, United States: As Lee Kyung-hoon stood over a 15-foot par putt on the 16th hole in the final round of the AT&T Byron Nelson, a ferocious lightning strike nearby jolted him out of position and left him looking upward toward the sky.

The horn sounded soon after, meaning a rain-soaked Lee had to wait a little longer for his maiden PGA Tour victory.

More than two hours later, the 29-year-old finally stood over that putt only to bogey for just the third time all week. Not that it mattered. Lee might have begun the restart inauspiciously but he closed it in style, posting a final-round six-under 66 to win by three shots over Sam Burns.

“I was not that nervous before the round, but I was very nervous when we resumed to play,” he said. “The last three holes, I was shaking inside.”

No one seemed to notice. The two-time winner on both the Korean and Japan Tours birdied the par-three 17th, pushing his lead over Burns to three strokes with one hole to play.

That proved to be enough for Lee, who became the eighth Korean to win on the PGA Tour and the second this year, after Kim Si-woo triumphed in February’s The American Express.

“When I made bogey at 16, it felt like I had lost a little momentum, so I wanted to try and be more aggressive on 17 and 18,” Lee said. “I hit a good shot on 17, which was important to get some momentum back and have a good finish.”

The finish proved even more special when, after sinking another birdie, he was congratulated greenside by his wife, Yu Joo-yeon, and fellow Koreans KJ Choi and Sung Kang.

“He told me how proud he was of me,” Lee said. “I’m very thankful for KJ. He means a lot to me.”

Lee finished at 25-under 263 for the week, posting no worse than a 67 over four days. He rose 55 spots to 29th in the FedEx Cup Standings, the highest mark of his PGA Tour career, now 80 starts old.

He also becomes fully exempt on Tour through the 2022-23 season and, in the short term, earns a spot in this week’s PGA Championship at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island. He entered the AT&T Byron Nelson as the third alternate in next week’s field.

The soon-to-be-father also enters the conversation for a potential spot on Captain Trevor Immelman’s International Team, which will look to take down the United States in the Presidents Cup next September at Quail Hollow Club.

“Thinking of joining the Presidents Cup, that would be such a great present for me,” he said. “To represent my country and my team, those kinds of things are so special.”

Lee is the fourth Asian winner of the AT&T Byron Nelson and the second in as many tries, after Sung Kang captured the last rendition of the event in 2019. Shigeki Maruyama (2002) and Bae Sang-moon (2013) also claimed wins at the Byron Nelson.

Kang made sure to be among those congratulating him greenside afterward. Lee said: “It is always good to have Korean players around me and to play the Tour together. It definitely helps my game.”

Burns, who earned his maiden Tour win two weeks ago at the Valspar Championship, finished solo second at 22-under. He tapped in for birdie at the 72nd to pull out of a five-way tie alongside Patton Kizzire, Daniel Berger, Scott Stallings and Charl Schwartzel.

Burns slept on a one-shot lead overnight, but bogeyed the first hole on Sunday to drop into a tie alongside his Korean playing partner. Lee capitalised on the error, carding birdies on each of the next three holes to open up an advantage he would not relinquish.

Burns said: “(KH) played awesome. When it was tough, he hung in there and he got off to a great start. He never gave anybody a chance. It was fun to watch. I was proud of the way he played, and it was tough to beat him today.”

Japan’s Satoshi Kodaira ended 13th on 17-under, while compatriot Hideki Matsuyama, making his first appearance since winning last month’s Masters, was 39th.