Lee hopes to bring big driver, accent to PGA TOUR

For three consecutive years, Bubba Watson has claimed the title as the PGA TOUR's longest hitter, his prodigious blasts off the tee keeping him atop the driving distance stats.

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Won Joon Lee got better as the 2008 Nationwide Tour season went along.

Inside the Numbers

Won Joon Lee on the 2008 Nationwide Tour

Starts 27 Cuts Made 16 Top-10s 5 Top-25s 7 Scoring Avg. 70.74 Money Earned $137,694 Money Rank 50th

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But that streak could be in serious jeopardy next year if a 6-foot-2 South Korean native with an Australian accent can earn his 2009 TOUR card when the final stage of the National Qualifying tournament begins Wednesday at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif.

Won Joon Lee led the Nationwide Tour in 2008 with an average driving distance of 315.7 yards. Not only is that slightly higher than Watson's TOUR average of 315.1, it's more than six yards longer than the No. 2 player on the Nationwide Tour's list, Blake Adams at 309.1.

After he gained Nationwide Tour status at the 2007 q-school, Lee surprised several of his fellow competitors with his length off the tee and his Australian accent. Michael Boyd, statistically the Nationwide Tour's shortest hitter in 2008 (ranking 143rd), was one who was caught off guard.

"He's definitely an anomaly," Boyd said. "Anytime you see a 6-2 South Korean who sounds Australian and hits it further than Bubba Watson -- it's definitely a weird occurrence. It's not just his length; his wedge game is really good too."

His ability on the green isn't bad, either -- Lee ranked sixth in putting average in 2008. But it took awhile for Lee to find his comfort zone this year.

He didn't shoot a round under 70 until his 15th round of the season. At the beginning of August, he ranked 115th on the Nationwide Tour money list, having missed the cut in 10 of 17 starts. He had just one top-10 finish at that point.

But at the Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open, Lee finished T7. He would eventually add three other top-10 finishes, including a T2 at the Utah Championship Presented by Zions Bank. In his final 10 starts of the season, he made the cut nine times.

Aron Price, a fellow Australian who turned professional in 2005 and knows Lee a little better, knew it was just a matter of time.

"I knew he was going to play well this year," Price said. "I wondered how long it would take him to get comfortable. I had the luxury of playing college golf over here, so the environment was never a problem when I first got out here. For him it's different, but now he has a huge chance to make the PGA TOUR."

It helps that Lee's a natural athlete. Born in South Korea, he grew up in Australia, attending Patrician Brothers High School and playing anything he could -- soccer, rugby, tennis, basketball ... he even tried the piano. He didn't start golf until age14, when his father, Chan Sun Lee, took him to hit balls around the time of the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

"Dad's parents moved to Australia five years before we all did in 1990," said Lee, who celebrated his 23rd birthday in October. "Our family gave up Korean citizenship when we obtained Australian citizenship. It's a good lifestyle, easy living and not as busy or polluted as Seoul."

Lee was a quick learner and had a breakout year in 2006 when he won the New South Wales Amateur Match Play Championship, beating former British Amateur Champion, Gary Wolstenholme on the 37th hole. He also won individual medalist honors at the Western Amateur and represented Australia at the Eisenhower Trophy before turning professional later that year, forgoing offers to play college golf in America.

After finishing top 40 in both co-sanctioned Nationwide Tour events Down Under in 2007, he took his game to Carnoustie for the British Open. The highlight of his week however, was not making the cut, or finishing 49th, or being paired with Ian Poulter in the final round with thousands of people watching. Instead, it was having his instructor, Butch Harmon, watching him hit balls on the range early in the week with the rain lashing down.

"We were trying to get as much shelter as we could behind the Titleist Tour truck," Lee recalled. "When we were done, and Butch was gone, the Titleist guys came out and told me that Butch doesn't come out in the rain to coach anyone. That made my week."

Lee also met TOUR star K.J. Choi in Carnoustie.

"He came and introduced himself to me," Lee said. "He tried to make me feel comfortable at the tournament. It's tough for guys like me to instigate a conversation. That's the good thing about tee times on Thursday and Friday -- you don't get to choose who you play with. I've met a lot of guys that way."

He hopes to meet a lot of TOUR guys next year ... provided he can get through the grueling week of q-school. Considering how Lee finished the season, the outlook certainly seems positive heading into the first of six rounds.

"Won Joon's starting to grow up a bit," said Wade Ormsby, another Australian Nationwide Tour member. "He's got everything right as far as technique and mechanics. He's just got to piece together a few other bits and pieces and the sky's the limit for him."

Lee admits he is beginning to feel more comfortable in America, basing himself in Las Vegas and playing tricks on people who don't know him. He often pretends he can't speak English just to see their reactions.

"It was difficult trying to fit in at the start," said Lee. "I feel like I'm part of the gang now. I didn't know I was going to come to the United States and live here. This feels more like home to me now than Sydney does."

Brad Iles, a New Zealander who travels and practices with Lee 90 percent of the time, considers Lee a star-in-waiting.

"Won Joon's got that much talent to be a world-class, top-10 player," Iles said. "I wouldn't describe him as wise beyond his years. It's a bit of a paradox with him. He's got a youthful naοvetι. He'll always be like that but nothing is going to hold him back."