By DAVID LEGGAT
New Zealand's brightest young golf prospect took another big step forward yesterday by winning the Bledisloe Cup as top amateur at the New Zealand Open.
Following in the footsteps of double Australian Open champion Aaron Baddeley last year, Canterbury's Eddie Lee recorded an even-par 70 to finish on one-under
279 in a tie for 15th after rounds of 72, 68, 69 and 70.
Lee played with Australian Brett Ogle on Saturday, and learned much from the round, as well as making a new friend.
"He will be a superstar ... Absolutely," Ogle said.
The 16-year-old Lee turned in a classy performance, leaving his closest amateur rival, Wellington's Gareth Paddison, four shots adrift.
Lee has already reached the quarter-finals of the US junior championships.
He was No 1 in the victorious Canterbury team at the Tower tournament, is a New Zealand junior and senior representative, and is the world junior long-drive champion, having sent a drive 310 yards in Britain last year.
"I just enjoyed it, from the first tee shot to the last putt," the shy son of Korean parents said of his first Open experience.
"This is what it is all about really."
The biggest lesson?
"These guys can putt. You can see it in their eyes when they are waiting to putt.
"They don't make stupid mistakes.
"I learned that if you really need a putt you have to hole it."
The tournament has simply whetted Lee's appetite for more.
When he was 13, he headed for the United States with stars, or more appropriately, a Tiger in his sights.
Known then as "Leopard Lee," his ambition was to follow in the footsteps of Tiger Woods.
Now the Leopard moniker has gone, but the ambition remains undiminished.
Left-hander Paddison's prospects blew out with a third-round 76 and he finished in a tie for 56th.
The other two amateurs to make the cut, Palmerston North's Tim Wilkinson and Australian Andrew Duffin, finished 10 and 11 over respectively.
