Golf: Lee dreams big at Augusta

AUGUSTA - New Zealand golfer Danny Lee climbed down from the lofty heights of the Augusta National clubhouse in awe after spending the night in a bed once occupied by Tiger Woods.

Lee moved into The Crow's Nest at the stately Georgia clubhouse on Sunday night, an area of three bedrooms with four beds and located in the upper reaches of the building.

The Crow's Nest has long been set aside for the amateurs, and the 18-year-old is among four amateurs in this year's 73rd staging of the Masters starting on Friday (NZT).

Lee intends staying in The Crow's Nest for three nights before moving out to join his parents and uncle Rambert Sim in a house they have rented in nearby suburban Augusta.

Sim, who is looking after the off-course affairs of Lee, indicated the teen was overawed, despite the cramped conditions, to have slept in the same bed that Woods once dreamed the dreams of champions in.

Woods competed in the Masters twice as an amateur, in 1995 and 1996, like Lee as the reigning US Amateur champion.

"Danny couldn't believe it that he got to sleep in the same bed as Tiger Woods," Sim said.

"Danny moved in on Sunday night and after climbing up the stairs, he saw room number eight knowing that was Tiger's room when he stayed here.

"The rooms are not very big. There are three bedrooms and two rooms with one bed a room with a double bunk bed.

" But Danny was just so excited when he met us this morning."

Sim also was struggling to contain his excitement having managed to get a picture of himself with Woods on the practice range on Sunday.

He proudly showed off the digital camera snap of himself and the four-time Masters champion to friends and acquaintances as Lee practised on the range today.

Sim said he had passed on some words of advice to his nephew ahead of his first appearance in a major.

"My advice to Danny is not to try too hard and to keep focused on his game, and not to make it too hard on himself.

"I told him that he does not have to go out there chasing birdies and that on most holes, a par is good enough.

" But Danny is very level headed and he'll be fine."

Aside from his parents, Lee is accompanied this week by his coach of two years, Steve Jessup, the resident pro at Wairakei International just outside Taupo.

Much is expected of Lee this week, with two-time major winner Johnny Miller even tipping him to create history by becoming the first amateur to win the Masters.

That sort of talk may backfire in the sense it places too heavy a weight of expectation on Lee's young shoulders.

But it is also something he will need to adjust to because he will not be treated as just another amateur at Augusta National.

Already, he is being targeted for special treatment, as evidenced by the tentative interview schedule planned for tomorrow.

Among the stars such as Woods, Padraig Harrington, Phil Mickelson and the like is that lad Lee, as the American press corps prime themselves to turn the spotlight on the teen from Down Under.

- NZPA