Lee gets Tiger buzz

Korean advances in U.S. Amateur

PINEHURST -- While marching alongside Danny Lee during another of his one-sided match-play victories in the U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst this week, his caddie Bob Scheirer overheard a conversation in the gallery.

"Someone said he looks like the Tiger Woods of the amateurs, and that's exactly how it looks," said Scheirer, better known as Boss within the community of Pinehurst caddies.

Lee, just 18 and the top-ranked amateur in the world, continued his dominating march through the match-play bracket Friday with a 4 and 3 victory over Morgan Hoffman at Pinehurst Resort, moving himself into the semifinals today at Course No. 2.

While three other players remain alive -- Lee will face Georgia freshman Patrick Reed in one semi while Georgia senior Adam Mitchell will meet Florida State's Drew Kittleson in the other -- Lee casts the most imposing shadow despite his skinny build.

Lee won the Western Amateur this month and followed up by finishing tied for 20th in the PGA Tour's Wyndham Championship in Greensboro last weekend.

A native of Korea who now lives in New Zealand, Lee is spending his summer in the United States before returning home for his high school graduation next month. He intends to enter the PGA Tour qualifying school but will maintain his amateur status in the process. College, at least right now, is not in his plans.

On Friday, Lee needed only 15 holes to dispatch Hoffman, who found himself four holes down walking off the sixth green. It equaled the longest match Lee has played thus far.

Lee also did it despite feeling "a click" in his left shoulder while hitting balls Friday morning. The pain was serious enough that he required the services of a masseuse before he played and planned another session Friday evening.

The soreness hardly mattered. Lee holed a 15-foot birdie at the par-4 second, won the third hole with a par, went 3-up at the fourth and showed how well he's playing at the 222-yard sixth when he carved a long-iron shot three feet left of the flag for an easy birdie.

"The course likes me," said Lee, standing beside the 15th green after his match. "Everything I hit and every putt just falls in."

Hoffman, part of Oklahoma State's powerhouse program, had nothing to slow down Lee.

"It's hard to compete when someone is playing so well and you're playing the opposite," Hoffman said. "I didn't play my A game or my B game."

Next up for Lee is Reed, another 18-year old who needed 23 holes to win his third-round match but looked plenty fresh bumping off Graham Hill 4 and 3. Reed shook off a shaky start against Hill before gradually pulling away.

Reed understands who he's up against today but intends to take the same approach that has worked for him so far -- make Lee beat him.

"He's like everybody else. If he has a great day, he'll run over people," Reed said. "But every match I've played, I've been the underdog. As long as I keep hitting greens and making pars, birdie here and there, it could get interesting."