Lee hopes Nationwide Tour is springboard

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Danny Lee has played all over the world this year, including on the Nationwide Tour.

When you've played in 13 countries in an eight-month span going from one tour the next, you can be forgiven for not knowing where you are.

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For the globe-trotting Danny Lee, the 21-year-old who won the U.S. Amateur in 2008, it's happened to him more than once.

"Yeah, I've had some instances where I didn't know what city I was in," Lee said. "And I've had it happen where I had to double check my room number because I've been in so many hotels."

Lee, who will play the rest of this season on the Nationwide Tour, admits he has forgotten what city he's in when he first wakes up in the morning. "There have been times where I had to kind of think hard to remember what tournament or what city I was playing in," he said with a laugh.

But the traveling, the competition, and the maturity are starting to come for the former amateur star.

While he's missed the last three cuts on the Nationwide Tour he's still done enough to rank 11th on the money list with $159,800 playing in just 12 tournaments. He'll be in the field this week for the Mylan Classic looking to get back into his familiar groove.

Lee was content to play on the Nationwide Tour this season, but he also wanted to try his luck on the European Tour to boost his world ranking. He had some success over there playing in 12 tournaments with a tie for second in the Volvo China Open for his best finish.

One of the things that Lee says is a difference between the European Tour and the Nationwide Tour is the amount of traveling. He said it takes a lot longer to get from one European Tour stop to the next, but he loves the fact that by living in Irving, Texas he can get to a lot of the Nationwide Tour stops easier.

He loved the competition on the European Tour, but for Lee, who was born in South Korea but moved to New Zealand when he was 8 years old, he also loves what he's learned on the Nationwide Tour.

Through all the traveling and playing, however, he's got a clear goal for 2012.

"My goal was to get my world ranking up but that didn't work out as well playing on the European Tour," said Lee, who is ranked 262nd in the world. "Now I'm committed to the Nationwide Tour and my goal is to get inside the top 25 and get on the PGA TOUR next year."

"He's got some star qualities although he's a shy kid," said Jerry Foltz, a two-time winner on the Nationwide Tour who is now a broadcaster for Golf Channel and has seen Lee play several times. "He's certainly one of the most talented players on the Nationwide Tour and without question he'll be successful."

Lee had a fast start on the Nationwide Tour making nine straight cuts with his best finish a tie for second in the Cox Classic. He showed off his long game, his underrated putting stroke, and cruised to rounds of 64-67-66-66 to finish at 21 under.

What Lee found out on the Nationwide Tour is going low every day is the only way to get a victory.

"I've noticed how low the scores are out there," Lee said. "It's amazing that you can finish a tournament 20 under and only finish in the top 10."

Foltz said that Lee has the talent to break through and win, and despite missing three straight cuts, Lee could contend this week. What Foltz likes about Lee is he's not afraid to work and he works on the right things in practice.

"He's one of those players who is mechanically but when he's not hitting it perfectly he's learned to get it around and score pretty well," Foltz said. "He spends a lot of time on his short game and you sometimes don't see that from the long hitters, but he travels with one of those launch monitors and he uses it a lot when he's practicing his wedges."

In his short time on the Nationwide Tour he's had four legitimate shots on Sundays to win. It's not something he's dwelled on and says that getting a win before the end of the season is his next goal.

"I'd like to win once on the Nationwide Tour sometime this year," Lee said.

Many thought that Lee would be on the TOUR by now, especially after 2008. In 12 starts on TOUR in 2009, however, he had one top-10 and didn't do enough to get his card.

He's quickly adapted to the Nationwide Tour requirement of going low this year, though, and ranks seventh in driving distance, 10th in greens in regulation, third in birdie average and eighth in scoring average.

He's also trying to think long term.

"I'm trying to be more consistent and I think the thing you learn the most out on the Nationwide Tour is how to score better," Lee said. "That comes from all the low scores."

Foltz said what is probably more surprising is that Lee hasn't won yet.

Lee has played in 24 tournaments combined between the European Tour and the Nationwide Tour.

"He can beat a lot of people and has done that already," Foltz said. "He's learning how to turn that 74 into a 69 or a 70 and that's what you need out there to be consistent."

John Dell has covered golf for the Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina for the last 18 years. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR. You can reach him at johndell@triad.rr.com.