Tain Lee '12 Shoots -1 in First PGA Tour Round
LA JOLLA, Calif. - Former CMS men's golfer Tain Lee qualified for his first PGA Tour event this week at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines and shot in the red in his debut round, finishing with a 71 (-1) on Thursday to place in the top half of the field after the first day.
Lee's -1 puts his name on the leaderboard with some legendary names. He ended the day tied with Phil Mickelson (71), in 63rd place out of 156 golfers when he finished, one shot behind Rickie Fowler (70) and Bubba Watson (70) and one shot ahead of Rory Sabbatini (72) and Steve Stricker (72). Patrick Reed has the clubhouse lead with a 64 (-8) as of 3 p.m. with 16 groups (64 golfers) still on the course.
Lee couldn't have asked to a better start to his PGA Tour career, opening up on the 10th and sinking a 12-foot putt for birdie on his first hole. He then chipped in on the 12th for his second birdie in his first three PGA Tour holes, before taking the turn at even par.
A birdie on the 1st hole got Lee back in the red with a seven-foot putt, but he fell back to seven after a bogey on the second. A perfect approach shot on the fifth from 151 yards left him a three-foot putt, which he sank to get back to -1, and four straight greens in regulation enabled him to close out with four pars to finish his round at 1-under.
As a member of the Stags, Lee captured the 2010 NCAA Championship with a four-round score of 280 (-7), becoming the first member of the program to win an individual title. The second-place finisher was Mitchell Fedorka of SCIAC rival La Verne, who now serves as the head coach for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Lee nearly made it two straight individual championships at the 2011 NCAA Championship before settling for a runner-up finish and adding a fifth-place finish in 2012. He was a first-team All-American all four seasons, while also earning the Jesse Clark Sportsmanship Award from the SCIAC in addition to all-league honors.
To follow Lee's progress tomorrow in the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open, go to the official tournament website below. The Golf Channel will also have coverage from 12-3 p.m. (PST) with a live simulcast stream at GolfChannel.com. CBS will have coverage of the final rounds on Saturday and Sunday from 12-3 p.m.
Farmers Insurance Open Website