Sunday, Kyoung-Hoon Lee captured his maiden victory on the PGA Tour. And it came with a major bonus.
Lee, who waited more than a decade to win for the first time on the PGA Tour, earned his first career win at the AT&T Byron Nelson in his 80th start on Tour. With his win, Lee earned a spot in the field at the PGA Championship, for which he had not yet qualified. Lee will make his debut at the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island Golf Resort and make just his third career major start, having twice before missed the cut at the U.S. Open.
“I try to keep playing positive,” Lee said after his win on Sunday. “It was a long time wait for the win, so I'm very grateful for this situation and very excited and very grateful to everybody.”
As if Lee’s wait to win on the PGA Tour wasn’t long enough, his patience was further tested by a weather delay in Texas. After more than two hours, the final round resumed at TPC Craig Ranch where Lee held a three stroke lead with three holes to play. His victory comes as no surprise to those who have followed him throughout the season and will recall his runner-up finish to Brooks Koepka at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February.
Lee carded a final round 66 to win at 25-under par and three ahead of Sam Burns, who is also in the field at the PGA Championship. Like Lee, Burns is also a first time winner in 2021. He earned his first win earlier in May at the Valspar Championship. He will make just his second start at the PGA Championship, having finished T29 in 2019. Patton Kizzire, Daniel Berger, Scott Stallings and Charl Schwartzel finished T3, four back of Lee.
Jordan Spieth also climbed inside the top 10 with a T9 in his native Texas.
At the AT&T Byron Nelson, Spieth made his first start since the Masters Tournament. Upon his return to the Tour, he revealed he had been battling COVID-19. But Spieth appeared healthy and picked up right where he left off having won at the Valero Texas Open in April for his first win since 2017 and finished T3 at the Masters Tournament. Spieth heads to Kiawah Island in great form as he looks to complete the Career Grand Slam and capture the PGA Championship, the only major championship title that has eluded him so far in his career. Spieth has two top 3s in eight prior appearances.
