Golf: Danny the boy setting standard in a man's world

Danny Lee is in spectacular form. Picture / Rotorua Daily Post

There's no more in-form golfer in New Zealand right now than 15-year-old Rotorua schoolboy Danny Lee. Last weekend at the annual Grant Clements Memorial at Mount Maunganui, he returned rounds of 66-68-66-66 for a combined score of 266, 22-under par - nine shots clear of his nearest challenger Nick Gillespie of Manawatu/Wanganui.

Lee's win at the Mount is his second wire-to-wire victory in a 72-hole tournament this year. In January he opened the NZ Under-23 Champs with a 65 at Bridge Pa in Hastings and was never headed, finishing 14 under and six shots in front of New Zealand team player Mark Purser. For good measure he won the Te Puke Open a couple of weeks ago as well.

These scores are quite phenomenal for a player at any level, let alone someone as young as this boy. Eddie Burgess of Tauranga, the 2000 national amateur champion who was a touring professional for a while, played with Lee for two rounds last Sunday in the Clements tournament and was flabbergasted.

"The worst he could have shot in either of those rounds was 66. I just couldn't believe how straight his drives were. He didn't just hit it on the fairway, it was like centre cut the whole time.

"When you hit the ball about 270m in the middle of the fairway hole after hole, it makes the game a lot easier. He is relentless.

"And he does it all the time. I've played with him about half-a-dozen times in the last six or eight months and in all those rounds I reckon he's been off the fairway with his tee shot maybe five times."

But Lee is not yet eligible to represent New Zealand. He's Korean, lives here with his family, and for a time recently it was thought the family was returning to Korea permanently because his father was ill.

That situation appears to have now changed and Danny Lee and his family are, according to New Zealand Golf, trying to get residency here and, eventually, citizenship. However, it's unlikely the process will be completed in time for Lee to play for New Zealand at the World Teams Championship (Eisenhower Trophy) in South Africa in October.

Lee has always been recognised as someone with a special talent. He was a scratch handicapper at 13 and a semifinalist in the New Zealand Amateur last year at 14.

Like so many young Koreans, male and female, the key to success appears to be his work ethic.

Although his headmaster at Rotorua Boys High School insists Lee's a regular attendee of classes and meets all his school commitments, other players reckon otherwise and just can't believe the hours he puts into working at his game.

Next weekend, Lee's joined by Burgess, Mark Smith, Josh Geary and Kevin Smith in the Bay of Plenty team for the Southland Invitational.

Bay of Plenty haven't won at Otatara for three years. With Danny Lee in his current form, they'll be the warmest of favourites.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY