Minu Lee regained his place as Australia’s top-ranked male golfer after falling just short of winning his first PGA Tour signature title with a thrilling finale at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Lee surged forward with a final-round 7-under 65 to take the clubhouse lead before close friend and two-time major champion Collin Morikawa put him ahead with a shot.
Under great pressure, the American birdied his way to the final hole, finishing the tournament at 22 under par and going home with a winner’s check of $3.6 million (approximately A$5.1 million).
Resurrected and enjoying his new putter and driver, Lee finished runner-up alongside Austrian Sepp Straka, who scored an eagle with a final 68.
“It was a great week. We were obviously a little short of making the playoffs, but we gave it our all,” Lee said.
“I’m very proud of how I handled myself today and over the weekend. I played a lot of good golf, which is great.”
“It’s becoming a trend, so it’s doing well and I hope it stays that way.”
Lee started the day five shots behind third-round frontrunner Akshay Bhatia (who shot a 72 on Sunday to drop to a tie for sixth place at 19 under), but he quickly climbed the leaderboard with four birdies on the front nine.
He stumbled with his only bogey of the day on the par-4 10th hole, falling once again to two strokes behind.
But Lee gained confidence by making back-to-back birdies on the 12th and 13th and sinking a nice downhill curling putt on the par-3 17th.
He made his eighth birdie of the round on the par-5 18th hole and improved to 21 under par, one spot behind world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
The 27-year-old then had to play an uneasy waiting game as Morikawa maintained a one-stroke lead with two holes remaining.
The former PGA and British Open champion hit his tee shot into the right rough and couldn’t stand up, making bogey 17 and understandably stumbled.
So Morikawa needed to make a birdie or eagle at the end to avoid a playoff with Lee.
Adding to the drama, the leader had to wait about 20 minutes before playing his approach shot to the 18th as compatriot Jacob Bridgman literally hit a costly bogey off a beach pebble and ruined the hole.
But the former world No. 2 mustered up the courage to drop his 4-iron a centimeter from the green and make his first putt to within two feet.
Earlier, Scheffler, in typical Sunday fashion, fired a explosive 9-under 63, rallying from an eight-shot deficit to briefly take the lead in the clubhouse.
He racked up six birdies and three eagles, but ultimately paid off with three bogeys for a spectacular finish.
In the end, Lee will forever mourn the cruel ending of the third round, when he made a bogey on the final hole when his ball swayed due to the strong wind blowing in from the sea.
That drop shot ultimately proved the difference, giving Morikawa his seventh PGA Tour win.
The consolation for Lee, who almost added to his win at last year’s Houston Open by outscoring Scheffler in the closing stages, is that his salary has risen to $1.76 million (about A$2.49 million) and his ranking has risen from 52nd to 31st in the world.
He dethroned Jason Day as Australia’s No. 1 and rejoined superstar sister Minsey as the top American player with seven weeks to go until the season’s first major championship, the Masters, at Augusta National.