Golf: Lee shows he's up with the best

Young Kiwi's blemish-free round comes within a whisker of course record

Kiwi golfer Danny Lee cast aside some rookie inhibitions to stare down the field with a superb 63 as the PGA field rolled into Pebble Beach yesterday for the AT and T National Pro Am.

He shared the lead with two-time champion Dustin Johnson and Charlie Wi as the tournament spread out to play at Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula before the final round back at Pebble.

The 21-year-old Lee admitted nerves had inhibited his progress in the past few seasons and though he had made just one cut from four this year, he felt his game was starting to gel in the last month.

He also took advantage of several pieces of good fortune. The former US Amateur champion nailed two eagles and five birdies in his blemish-free no placing round, which was a shot adrift of the course record, held jointly by Tom Kite and David Duval, who had the advantage of clean, lift and place rulings in 1983 and 1997.

Lee started his round on the back nine and on the par four 11th, made the first of his eagles when he holed his wedge from 106 yards. His other eagle, he said, was even more spectacular when he dunked a bunker shot on the par five second.

"I was in the left bunker and it was a very tough place to get up and down from there," he said.

"I had to hit the flag to stop the ball and it hit the flag and went in.

"So after that I got good momentum going and played really nicely."

Lee had looks for birdies on his final two holes but narrowly missed before signing for his best round on the PGA tour.

It was early in the season and his form had been a little erratic in four previous starts. In the past few years he had been either too nervous or not focused enough to deliver enough consistent golf.

"But I learned ways to play a little bit better than I used to in the last four weeks," he said. "I was playing good but nothing was happening to me but I was starting to play good."

Lee hit 15 greens in his stunning tournament start and needed just 24 putts as he negotiated his way around the course where he had his best PGA finish, tied for seventh in 2009. Lee moves over to Spyglass today which played the toughest of the three layouts yesterday.

Playing the Nationwide Tour last season was an enormous assistance for Lee as he qualified to play the PGA this season.

"I was struggling for a couple of years how to make low scores, especially out here where you have got to do that," he said.

Johnson shot 63 at Pebble Beach in a round which included two bogeys and Wi signed for a 61 on the par 70 course at Monterey, while Tiger Woods, in his first appearance at this event for some time, shot a four under 68 at Spyglass.

"I don't know if it's a good sign or a bad sign," Woods said about his round. "With the scores the way they are, I thought I could have it lower than I did. The guys are just tearing this place apart with no wind. I'm not too far away from posting a good number out here."

Lee's opening round has put him in the limelight again after he claimed some headlines when he holed in one a fortnight ago at the Humana Challenge in California.

He is the first New Zealand golfer to play on the main tour in the States since the left-handed Tim Wilkinson in 2009.

Leaderboard
-9 Danny Lee (NZL)
-9 Charlie Wi (KOR)
-9 Dustin Johnson (USA)
-8 Ken Duke (USA)
-8 Brian Harman (USA)
-8 Josh Teater (USA)