Lee holds off Spieth to win Byron Nelson
K.H. Lee ran across the fairway to try to get a better view of the key shot in his second consecutive victory in the Byron Nelson.
The South Korean must have known it would be close, same as the lowscoring drama around him that included hometown favorite Jordan Spieth and a couple of other major winners in
Hideki Matsuyama and
Justin Thomas.
Lee’s 240-yard shot on the par-5 12th hole stopped less than 5 feet from the pin, and the eagle put him in front for good Sunday on the way to a 9-under 63 and a one-shot victory over Spieth at birdie-besieged TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas.
Spieth shot a 67 to finish a stroke ahead of Matsuyama (62) and Sebastián
Muñoz (69), who held or shared the lead the first three rounds.
Xander Schauffele had a career-best 61 and tied for fifth with Ryan Palmer (66) and Thomas (67).
A year ago, Lee was playing for a spot in the PGA Championship, where he’ll be again next week at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
This time it was for a place in history as the 30-year-old joined Sam Snead (1957-58), Jack Nicklaus (1970-71) and
Tom Watson (1978-80) as the only repeat winners at the Nelson. Lee finished at 26 under, one shot better than last year.
PGA CHAMPIONS
Steve Stricker completed at a wire-to-wire victory in the Regions Tradition, closing with a 4-under 68 for a fivestroke margin and his fourth PGA Tour Champions major title.
It was Stricker’s second Tradition win at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Ala.
LPGA TOUR
LPGA scoring leader Minjee Lee made her only three birdies on the back nine and held off Lexi Thompson by two strokes in the Cognizant Founders Cup for her first victory of the year.
EUROPEAN TOUR
Sam Horsfield won the Soudal Open for his third European tour title, closing with a 3-under 68 for a two-stroke victory in Antwerp, Belgium.
KORN FERRY TOUR
Anders Albertson two-putted for birdie on the final hole for a 4under 66 and a one-stroke victory over Korn Ferry Tour points leader Carl Yuan in the Visit Knoxville Open.