Danny Lee was born on this day in 1990. A professional golfer from Rotorua, New Zealand. Lee was born in South Korea and emigrated to New Zealand at the age of eight. He became a naturalized New Zealander on 2 September 2008 at Rotorua, where he attended Rotorua Boys’ High School.
Lee became the youngest ever winner of the US Amateur Championship in August 2008, aged 18 years and one month, six months younger than Tiger Woods when he won in 1994. His age record was broken the following year by 17-year-old An Byeong-hun. He became number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking on 20 August 2008 and remained number one until he turned pro in April 2009.
In February 2009, Lee won the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth, Australia, a professional tournament co-sanctioned by the European, Asian, and Australasian tours. He was the youngest ever winner on the European Tour, surpassing Dale Hayes, and only the second amateur winner after Pablo Martín. The win took him to 159th place in the Official World Golf Rankings.
In October 2011 Lee won the WNB Golf Classic in Texas, beating Harris English in a playoff, his first professional win on US soil. The $94,500 first prize lifted him to 4th on the money list, assuring him of a place inside the final money list’s top 25, those being the players who gain PGA Tour cards for the following season.
