Danny Lee wins Johnnie Walker Classic

New Zealand’s Danny Lee has become the youngest ever winner of a European Tour event after securing victory in the Johnnie Walker Classic.

Danny Lee
Fergus Bisset
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New Zealand’s Danny Lee has become the youngest ever winner of a European Tour event after securing victory in the Johnnie Walker Classic. He finished one shot ahead of Ross McGowan, Felipe Aguilar and Hiroyuki Fujita.

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At the age of 18 years and 213 days, Lee surpassed the record previously held by Dale Hayes – winner of the 1971 Spanish Open. The New Zealander is also only the second ever amateur winner on the European Tour, following Pablo Martin’s victory in the 2007 Estoril Open de Portugal.

Lee started the final round two shots behind the English duo of Ross McGowan and John Bickerton and was still behind through 12 holes of the final round. But the 2008 US Amateur Champion birdied the 13th, 14th, 17th and 18th to finish with a round of 67 and end the week on -17. Neither McGowan nor Bickerton could catch the youngster and Lee finished one shot clear of the pack.

"It still feels like I'm in dreamland. Hopefully no-one wakes me up.” Said Lee. "I was dreaming about winning but my goal was to make the cut after two rounds and to try to get into the top 20 or top ten. I played extremely well the last few days and yeah, here I am.”

As an amateur, Lee was not eligible to collect the winner’s cheque for €235,000 so that money was split between those finishing in a tie for second – Felipe Aguilar, Hiroyuki Fujita and Ross McGowan.

Lee will turn professional after playing in April’s US Masters and is setting himself lofty targets. "I can't compare to Tiger Woods because he's one of the greatest players in the world and he's the number one ranked player in the world.” He said before continuing: "All I want to do is just break what he's done. Obviously I can't win three US Amateurs in a row but I'll try to break his records on the PGA Tour."

Johnnie Walker Classic The Vines Resort and Country Club, Australia Feb 19-22, purse €1,402,000, par 72

1    Danny Lee (am) (NZL)    67    68    69    67    271     T2    Felipe Aguilar (Chi)    68    68    68    68    272    €160,583 T2    Hiroyuki Fujita (Jap)    67    68    70    67    272    €160,583 T2    Ross McGowan (Eng)    70    67    65    70    272    €160,583 T5    John Bickerton (Eng)    66    70    66    71    273    €65,390 T5    Raphael Jacquelin (Fra)    70    68    66    69    273    €65,390 T7    Adam Blyth (Aus)        68    68    71    67    274    €42,461     T7    Michael Sim (Aus)    69    69    67    69    274    €42,461 T7    Lee Westwood (Eng)    66    73    68    67    274    €42,461

Note: Players in bold signifies Titleist ball usage only

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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