● Lee payday
Kiwi golfer Danny Lee has fallen just short of his second PGA Tour title, finishing second at the Mayakoba Golf Classic on the PGA Tour.
Lee gave eventual winner Matt Kuchar a massive fight down the stretch at the Mexican event, but Kuchar just clung on to win by one shot at 22-under par, ahead of the charging Lee, who shot a final round six-under 65.
Lee will still receive a big boost from his performance — second place sees him leap to 10th on the FedEx Cup ladder, after he had already claimed finishes of 10th, 33rd and 41st in a strong start to his 2018-2019 campaign.
The top finish will almost certainly see him retain his PGA Tour card for next season, removing a large chunk of pressure at this early point, while Lee also takes home more than $1,150,000 for second place, and will make a significant jump from 133rd on the world rankings.
It was an excellent final round from the 28-year-old, who started the day in a tie for third, five shots behind Kuchar, but applied pressure on the front nine, carding four birdies.
Lee said the conditions were conducive to low scoring, and he went into the round under no pressure.
“It was a little windier than the last three rounds we had, but it was still very do-able out there. If you keep hitting it straight off the tee, you get a lot of birdie chances out there.
“I had no mindset or no gameplan — I’ve been hitting it good all week and I knew if I just putt half decent I would have a chance, or get very close — but I didn’t know what Matt was going to do.”
Kuchar too started well, sitting at four-under through 13 holes, but two straight bogies reduced what was a four-shot buffer to just a solitary stroke.
A bogey on 15 dented Lee’s chances, but he rolled in a long birdie putt on 16 to sit just one shot back going into the final two holes.
There, Lee had long birdie putts slide wide of the hole on 17 and 18, settling for pars, and leaving Kuchar the equation of having to match him on the last hole to seal the victory.
A fortunate bounce off the tee on 18 set the American veteran up nicely, and while his eventual birdie putt slid past the hole, he made no mistake with his putt for par, securing his first win in four years, and denying Lee a chance for his second.—