McKINNEY, Texas – On the 17th green, staring over a 12-foot par putt to maintain a one-stroke lead at the AT&T Byron Nelson, K.H. Lee was so nervous that he did something he only does on special occasions: he asked for divine intervention.
“I know that that’s a very important putt, so I pray over there,” he said. “Sometimes, like I need to believe in myself, but just need a, ‘Oh, God, like, please.’ ”
Lee’s prayers were answered, he clenched his right fist and on a hot, sultry afternoon he shot a career-best 9-under 63 to win the AT&T Byron Nelson for the second straight time.
“It feels like a dream again,” said Lee, who has won both editions of the tournament since it moved to this suburban Dallas layout.
Lee, 30, became the first player to defend his title at the AT&T Byron Nelson since Tom Watson in 1978-1980 and joined exclusive company with a couple other Hall of Famers: Sam Snead in 1957-58 and Jack Nicklaus in 1970-71 are the only other past champions to do so.
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“Hopefully,” he said, “people will remember my name too.”
Lee got off to a dream start on Sunday, canning a 51-foot birdie at the second and holing out from the fringe at the third for what amounted to five birdies in his opening nine holes. He manhandled the four par-5s at TPC Craig Ranch in 5 under en route to shooting a 72-hole total of 26-under 262 and holding off Jordan Spieth by one stroke.
“That score this afternoon, especially the last closing stretch of holes, is just a phenomenal score,” said Spieth.
As golf stats guru Justin Ray noted, no player in PGA Tour history had won the same 72-hole stroke-play event in back-to-back years with a score of 25-under par or lower before Lee did so.
“(Rafa) Nadal at Roland Garros, (Babe) Ruth at Yankee Stadium and K.H. Lee at TPC Craig Ranch,” Ray tweeted.
“When I’m here,” Lee said of TPC Craig Ranch, “(I feel) very comfortable.”
Lee showed from the start he wouldn’t surrender his title without a fight, firing 64 in the first round and after scores of 68 and 67, he was four back of Sebastian Munoz heading into Sunday.
Lee hadn’t won in the year since bagging his first Tour victory and his recent form gave little indication that he was about to go on a birdie binge. His slump included three straight missed cuts before snapping that skid a week ago at the Wells Fargo Championship.
Lee vaulted into the lead with an eagle at 12 after he ripped his second shot from 238 yards at the par-5 to within 5 feet. He drained a 15-foot birdie putt at No. 13 and his birdie at the last was the icing on the cake. Lee, who switched putters this week to an Odyssey 2-ball, gained more than three strokes on the field on the greens and that was the difference. On 17, Lee had an awkward stance from inside a greenside bunker and the ball above his feet on grass. He did well to chip it past the hole, praying before making his clutch left-to-right twisting par putt to protect a 1-shot edge. No less than Jordan Spieth called Lee’s putting stroke “pure.”
“That’s some high praise coming from Jordan,” observed CBS’s Colt Knost.
Spieth bogeyed two of his first three holes in the final round, but he ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch beginning at the fifth to remain in the hunt for his first win at his hometown event, where he first played as a 16-year-old when the course was at its former home of more than 30 years at the TPC Four Seasons. Spieth’s undoing was a three-putt bogey from 7 feet at the 10th hole and birdies at Nos. 12, 14 and 18 coming home for a final-round 67 wasn’t enough.
It always seemed destined to be a frenetic finish. At one point in the round, eight players shared the lead at 20 under, including Xander Schauffele who rallied to make the cut on the number and played his final 49 holes in 26-under par. He signed for a career-low 61 and tied for fifth with Justin Thomas and Ryan Palmer.
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama saved his best for last, closing with an eagle at 18 to shoot a final-round 62 and tied for third at 24-under 264 with Colombia’s Munoz. The 54-hole leader got off to a shaky start with a bogey at the first and didn’t make his first birdie until the eighth hole. Munoz closed in 69.
World No. 1 and reigning Masters champion Scottie Scheffler shot 69 to finish T-15 at his hometown event. But this was Lee’s day for the second straight year, and he celebrated just off the 18th green with his parents, wife Joo Yeon and 10-month old Celene.
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