Lee makes it 2 straight in Texas
MCKINNEY: Lee Kyoung-Hoon fired a career-low nine-under-par 63 on Sunday to win the PGA Tour’s Byron Nelson tournament for a second straight year at TPC Craig Ranch in Texas.
South Korea’s Lee, who won his first PGA Tour title at the tournament in suburban Dallas last year, made his second victory a successful defence as he erased a four-shot overnight deficit to build a 26-under-par total of 262 and beat three-time major winner Jordan Spieth by one stroke.
“Feels like a dream again, like last year,” said Lee, who was greeted at the 18th green by his wife, Yu Joo-Yeon and their baby daughter Celine, who was born weeks after Lee won last year.
“It’s an amazing feeling.”
On a windy day north of Dallas, the Korean — also known as KH Lee — got going early with a 51-foot birdie putt at the second hole.
After a seven-foot birdie at the third he blasted out of a greenside bunker to two feet for birdie at the fifth, then added birdies at six and nine before sticking his approach at the par-five 12th within five feet for an eagle that put him atop the leaderboard.
He added a 14-foot birdie at the 13th, then sealed the victory with a birdie at the par-five 18th, where his 25-foot eagle putt stopped an inch from the cup.
Lee powered past overnight leader Sebastian Munoz, who began the day at 21-under and one shot in front of Spieth.
Both got off to a slow start with bogeys at the first.
Spieth went on to post eight birdies with three bogeys in his five-under 67 while Munoz had four birdies in a 69 that left him tied for third on 264 alongside former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, who charged up the leaderboard with a 10-under 62.
Lee preserved his one-shot lead with a gritty par save at the par-three 17th, where his tee shot left him in the left rough with an awkward stance in a bunker.
He made a 12-foot putt for the save.
Although Spieth couldn’t come up with an eagle to force a play-off, it was a solid week as he heads to Tulsa, Oklahoma, this week for the PGA Championship where a victory would see him complete a career Grand Slam.