Lee Wins U.S. Amateur

Living up to his pre-tournament hype as the world's top-ranked amateur player, Danny Lee defeated Drew Kittleson, 5 & 4, in the 36-hole final match of the U.S. Amateur Championship at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. Lee, a native of South Korea who's lived in New Zealand for the past nine years, became the youngest champion ever, supplanting Tiger Woods who was six months older when he won his first Amateur title.

Lee rode a hot putter time after time on the fast and heaving greens at the fabled Donald Ross-designed No. 2 course. He was never seriously threatened after overcoming Kittleson's early 2-up advantage, continuing a birdie barrage that lasted throughout the 108th running of the championship. Lee carded 13 birdies over 32 holes in the finale.

Both he and Kittleson have likely earned invitations to the Masters as well as the U.S. Open. As the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, Lee also reserved himself a tee time in the 2009 British Open. "It's like I'm in dreamland," Lee said after the win. "I just can't believe it, I'm so excited right now. I can't wait to get to next year and play in those great events."

Despite succumbing to Lee, Kittleson displayed serious game on Sunday, carding five birdies himself. But Lee was just too brilliant as he forged a 5-up lead after the morning session. "I tried to make something happen, being 5-down especially how well he was playing," said Kittleson.

"I thought I did actually. I bogeyed the second to go 6-down then reeled off two birdies in a row, won a hole with a par, then made an eagle and halved with a birdie, all in consecutive holes. I got to 2-down, but he made four in a row. I had (three) bogeys for 32 holes. I can't really complain about my play, just caught him on the wrong day."

Lee showed good sportsmanship in recognizing Kittleson's fine performance. "Drew played really, really well. He put lots of pressure on me," said Lee. "I was a bit nervous the first nine holes. He was making birdies from everywhere."

Lee became the second New Zealander in the past three years to win a USGA major at Pinehurst. Fellow countryman Michael Campbell won the 2005 U.S. Open on the same course.

In September Lee will attend a ceremony in his hometown of Rotorua to become a New Zealand citizen. Then in October he will join teammates James Gill and Jared Pender on the New Zealand team that will compete for the Eisenhower Trophy, a world-class amateur event, in Adelaide.