Lee wins Portland Classic, Green ties for third

Hannah Green finished two strokes short of eventual winner, American Andrea Lee, to record a top-3 finish at the AmazingCre Portland Classic on the LPGA Tour.

Lee finished at 19-under-par one stroke ahead of Ecuador’s Daniela Darquea.

Andrea Lee (Credit: LPGA Tour)

It was Lee’s maiden LPGA Tour win, a former standout collegiate player for Stanford who turned professional in late 2019 and finished T30 at the LPGA Q-Series to earn status for the 2020 LPGA Tour season.

As a collegiate player Lee became the most decorated golfer in Stanford’s Women’s golf history, setting a school record with nine individual titles and topping the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.

WITB: Andrea Lee

• Callaway Chrome Soft X ’22 Ball
• Callaway Epic Speed Triple Diamond DS (9º)
• Callaway Rogue ST LS ADJ (15º)
• Callaway Rogue ST Max (18º)
• Callaway Apex UW (21º)
• Callaway Mavrik Pro (24º)
• Callaway Apex CF 2019 (6-AW)
• Callaway Jaws MD5 (54º, 60º)
• Odyssey WH OG #1 Putter

As a freshman in 2016–17, she was WGCA Freshman of the Year, a finalist for WGCA Player of the Year, and a finalist for the Honda Sports Award for golf. In 2019, Lee was semi-finalist at the U.S. Women’s Amateur, and won the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the world’s top-ranked amateur at the end of the season

“All the hard work has paid off, said Lee, 24. “It’s been my dream to win on the LPGA Tour, and the fact that I accomplished that today is just pretty surreal.”

“My junior career and my amateur career have always been kind of smooth sailing I would say. I kind of expected a lot out of myself coming into the LPGA and turning professional. Put a lot of pressure on myself to do really well off the bat. That wasn’t the case at all. 2020 was a decent year, but then 2021 was a struggle. I just learned from all those experiences last year, and I really have grown as a golfer and really proud of the way that I managed to use all those experiences to get that win today.”

Darquea’s second-place finish was her best on the LPGA Tour. Her previous best was a tie for fifth at the 2018 Dana Open and more recently the 27-year-old has moved between the LPGA and Epson Tours after a difficult 2021 season. Sunday’s result a pleasing outcome for Darquea.

“You have no idea how much I learned this year, this past two years,” remarked Darquea. “Last year was such a struggle, and now being able to stay in the moment, stay calm, execute the shots, take it one shot at a time, if I get in trouble, get out of trouble quick, it’s big. It’s very important. Obviously I’m excited for what is to come.”

Sarah Kemp was the next best Australian finishing in a share of 36th, with Karis Davidson in a share of 47th.

Sarah Jane Smith, Stephanie Kyriacou, Su Oh and NSW amateur Makensie Toole, who is currently based in the US at George Fox University, missed the weekend.