KEY POINTS:
Special talent sometimes demands special treatment.
That is certainly the case with Rotorua amateur golfer Danny Lee, who officials want cleared to play in the New Zealand PGA Championship in Christchurch in March.
The championship has been a closed book to amateurs since it was relaunched after a 16-year absence in 2004 as a Nationwide Tour and Australasian Tour co-sanctioned event.
However, the New Zealand Professional Golfers' Association (NZPGA) is keen for the reigning US Amateur champion to grace the Clearwater Resort fairways on March 5-8.
It has asked the Australasian Tour, under whose rules the championship is conducted, if anything precluded Lee, 18, playing in the US$600,000 ($1.16 million) tournament.
The association is willing to offer Lee one of two spots it has available to fill at its discretion.
Eight places are filled by the NZPGA, with six automatically going to the national club pro champion and the leading five players on the domestic order of merit.
"It is open only to pros, however we are looking at things. We are keen to find a way for Danny to play," NZPGA president Geoff Smart said today.
"We are talking to the tournament promoter (Bob Tuohy) to see if there is a way we can make that happen without upsetting other professionals who'd otherwise have an opportunity to play."
Smart said Lee's exploits in both amateur and professional events meant he had a compelling case to support his appearance at Clearwater.
Since last August he has accepted invitations to contest six professional tournaments, making five cuts with a best result of sharing 11th place in the Australian Masters near Melbourne in November.
He courted attention again by finishing 24th equal in the Australian Open in Sydney last month, before heading to the Middle East this month to tie for 35th at the Abu Dhabi Championship.
Lee is using his regular appearances in pro fields to lay the groundwork for an impending shift to the pro ranks, which he intends to do after the Masters at August, Georgia, in April.
He will contest the Masters thanks to his historic victory in the US Amateur last August, when he became the youngest winner of that event since it was first contested in 1895.
He wants to play the New Zealand PGA Championship in Christchurch then sign off his career in this country the following week at the New Zealand Open near Queenstown.
Smart has been blown away at how well Lee has adapted to the demands of the pro game.
"He has just done so phenomenally well in all the professional events he's played in," he said.
"There hasn't been an amateur since Bobby Jones (American legend in the 1920s-1930s) who has been able to step up to the plate like that. I don't think Tiger (Woods) did that well when he was still an amateur.
"He definitely has some class.
"The fact is that he plans on turning professional in a couple of months anyway.
"If it benefits him and benefits New Zealand golf, that is the tack we're taking."
- NZPA
