7 Oct 2015

Danny Lee set for golf's biggest stage

1:01 pm on 7 October 2015

Danny Lee's breakthrough season on world golf's biggest stage comes to a head on Thursday afternoon when he tees off in his country of birth at the Presidents Cup.

Danny Lee

Danny Lee Photo: Photosport

The 25-year-old's returned to the city he once called home, Incheon in South Korea, for one of the biggest team's events in golf.

Now waving the New Zealand flag, Lee can still expect a rousing return to South Korea, as one of only two players in the International Team to be born in the host country.

Winning for the first time on the PGA Tour earlier this season and finishing ninth in the year-long Fedex Cup, this weekend caps off what has been a rather phenomenal season for the shy young man from Rotorua.

Lee's remarkable rise up the world rankings (and rise in pay cheques) is no real surprise. Since he met his new swing coach Drew Streckel in Peurto Rico last year, Danny's game has gone from strength to strength.

The first sign that the tide was changing for Lee came late last year when he finished in a tie for third at the OHL Classic in Mexico.

Since then Lee has managed to pick up seven top-10 finishes, including his win at the Greenbrier Classic in July and his tie for second at the season-ending Tour Championship, only bettered by American wonder child Jordan Spieth.

A few facts to discover why and how Danny has managed to string together over $7,000,000 this season may help put his season into perspective.

Lee's played in 36 tournaments on the PGA Tour this year - more than any other player on tour. He also made the most birdies for the season with 475, averaging 3.96 birdies a round.

To make those birdies you need to be a good putter and Lee can lay claim to being one. He averages 28.27 putts per round, that means he makes a one putt on eight out of the 18 greens on a golf course.

The matchplay format at this weekend's Presidents Cup should suit Lee, where the goal is to beat your opponent by winning more holes than the other.

With his knack for making birdies and the "home course advantage", Lee and the International Team could be in line to lift the Presidents Cup for the first time since fellow New Zealand golfers Frank Nobilo and Greg Turner's heroics in 1998.