Turning point for Danny Lee?

The enigma that is Danny Lee may have reached a watershed moment in his career with his “out of left field” meltdown at the United States Open.

Danny six-putted on the last hole at Winged Foot, of which three of the putts were hit carelessly. As he walked off the green he then whacked his golf bag with his putter.    

I am sure he is still feeling devastated at his actions and will continue to do so for some time. So he doesn’t need me or anyone else to climb on their high horse.

So let us take a deep breath and look at how such a reaction could have suddenly exploded inside Danny. 

He has always been one of the good guys on tour, and why not? He has banked around $US14million. I can’t remember seeing Danny involved in any dubious reaction in all his years on tour so what prompted this out of character anger.

Let us go back to his US Amateur victory in 2008, the youngest ever winner at 18 years and one month. The pundits said here was a star in the making.

He joined the PGA Tour in 2012, lost his card before regaining it for 2014 and has comfortably held his place since. 

He had a stellar year in 2015 with his win at the Greenbrier Classic and a second finish at the season ending Tour Championship to bank almost $US4 million. Maybe this would see him fulfil the promise his ability hinted at.

Not quite. Each year since he has had his highs and lows and can look back at a career on the PGA Tour that has produced one win, four seconds, three thirds and 25 top 10s. He has always been in the top tier for birdies scored on tour but unfortunately too many dropped shots have been the handbrake on more wins.

The 2020 season has been a good one with more than $US2 million banked already. He tied for the lead with Justin Thomas after three rounds at the CJ Cup, finishing a fine second. However other promising starts have not been finished well. Danny scored his career low 62 to lead after the first round at the Mayakoba Classic but fell away to finish 26th. No doubt he felt disappointed and frustrated.

Then at the first FedEx Cup playoff in the Northern Trust he played superbly and consistently for 63 holes to be second on four under par. At this point he could look forward to playing all three playoff events as he was sitting 18th overall. 

Then the inexplicable happened. Bogeys on six of the next seven holes, which he had played so well  each of the previous three days, plunged him to 18th and 42nd in the FedEx Cup.   Eventually he failed narrowly to make the final event of the FedEx Cup because of that nine hole stretch.

So to the US Open and the 18th green in the third round.  Sitting handily placed at 33rd with a reasonable chance of par from four feet, he lost the plot. 

Even a bogey would have left him in the hunt for a creditable finish with a reasonable final round. His third putt, which he one-handedly hit with no care, showed he had given up. 

Why oh why? It was one of the more uncomfortable watches in golf. Does anyone remember Ernie Els with the yips, ruining his major championship chances on the first hole some years ago with several putts from a couple of feet.

Could it be that those two aforementioned disappointing finishes were weighing heavily on Danny’s mind despite the fact he had been playing very well to get where he was. Maybe he feels he should do much better which puts unnecessary pressure on his psyche. 

Let’s be frank. He has the ability to crack the top 50 consistently and possibly just needs to loosen the shackles and fight tooth and nail even when the chips are down.

Danny’s horror may have cemented him in folklore. At the recent  Irish Open a player three putted unexpectedly and the commentator said “At least he didn’t do a Danny Lee.”

I expect Danny’s well documented sense of humour will allow him to ride such jibes with a smile. His apology for his blip was heartfelt. “I apologise for my poor, foolish and very unprofessional actions.” 

As for his frustration and injury he said “Still it’s just an excuse, I shouldn’t have left like that.”

Let us hope that Danny will reappear with a new perspective to have the same never give up attitude like Justin Thomas or Tiger Woods. That may allow him to play to his potential and pick up that elusive second win on the world’s richest golf circuit, the  PGA Tour.