10 Mar 2014

Lee second in Puerto Rico

10:59 am on 10 March 2014

Rotorua golfer Danny Lee has finished second at the PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open - his best finish yet on the elite US circuit.

Lee started the day one stroke behind American Chesson Hadley, and he was just a shot back with two holes to play.

But the 23-year-old couldn't make up any ground on the front nine, with two early birdies negated by bogies on the seventh and eighth holes.

Lee made a run at the leader on the back nine however, with five birdies for a four under par 68, finishing 19 under for the tournament.

But he was outplayed by his rookie playing partner, Hadley closing with a 67 to secure his first Tour win by two shots.

Lee will pick up around $400,000 for his week's work, which will go a long way towards helping secure his spot on the Tour next season.

Until today Lee's best result this season was a tie for 33rd and he'd missed the cut in his last six events.

The Puerto Rico Open was contested by players who didn't qualify for the WGC-Cadillac Championship.