LEE BEATS SPIETH TO REPEAT AT 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 low-scoring 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 atroke ahead of Matsuyama (62) and Sebastian Muñoz (69), who held or shared the lead the first three rounds.
San Diego’s Xander Schauffele had a career-best
61 and tied for fifth with Ryan Palmer (66) and Thomas (67), who was part of an eight-way tie for the lead at 20 under early in the final round.
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, Okla.
This time it was for a place in history as the 30year-old joined Sam Snead (1957-58), Jack Nicklaus (1970-71) and Tom Watson (1978-80) as the only repeat winners at the Nelson.
Schauffele posted a clubhouse lead at 23 under with a birdie on 18 just as the last groups were making the turn. The 12th-ranked player said he didn’t figure on hanging around long with the scoring so low.
The reigning Olympic champion was 26 under over the final 49 holes, starting with eight birdies from No. 6 on in the second round to rally from 3 over and make the cut on the number (5 under). He began the final round nine shots back.
Schauffele holed a 97yard wedge for eagle on the short par-4 sixth then added eight birdies over the last 11 holes for the third score of 61 or better this week.
“I had no pressure to shoot a low score,” Schauffele said.
“The leaders are expected to shoot at least five or six (under) to kind of keep the pace. So I was literally just trying to birdie as many holes as possible while being smart as well.”
Elsewhere
Steve Stricker completed a wire-to-wire victory in the Regions Tradition at
Birmingham, Ala., closing with a 4-under 68 for a sixstroke margin and his fourth PGA Tour Champions major title.
Stricker’s second Tradition win at Greystone Golf & Country Club came in his third event since returning from a six-month absence for health reasons. Two straight birdies punctuated the dominant performance.
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 in Clifton, N.J., for her first victory of the year.
Anna Davis, the 16-yearold from Spring Valley who won the recent Augusta National Women’s Amateur, finished tied for 50th at 3 under for the tournament.
Sam Horsfield won the Soudal Open for his third European tour title, closing with a 3-under 68 for a twostroke victory in Antwerp, Belgium.