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MCKINNEY, Texas — Pictures of K. H. Lee with his AT&T Byron Nelson trophy show a joyous man under a bright sky, utterly free of tumult. Pictures tell only part of the truth. Lee was indeed happy, having won his first PGA TOUR title, 500 FedExCup points, exempt status through the 2022-23 TOUR season and entry into the game’s biggest events, starting with this week’s PGA Championship. But it came with considerable distress, including terrible weather for golf. Late in the final round, players had to be evacuated from TPC Craig Ranch for more than two hours, leaving Lee alone with his own thoughts, a two-shot lead and two holes remaining. RELATED: Full leaderboard | What’s in Lee’s bag? Which is exactly what the 29-year-old from South Korea did, of course, shortly after play resumed at 4:15 local time in North Texas. Lee birdied the par-3 17th. He birdied the par-5 18th. He shot 6-under 66 on an afternoon when, at times, a predictable golf shot seemed about as realistic as kayaking down a fairway. Turns out both were entirely possible. “Long day for me,” he said, “I think everybody.” Playing with third-round leader Sam Burns, Lee took lead for good on the par-4 third. He widened it to two shots on the fourth, and that was as close as anyone would get to him. Lee and others who started late played more than half of their rounds in conditions ranging from a springtime Texas shower to an abject monsoon. It was so heavy as Lee took his stance on the par-4 16th that his drive traveled a meager 233 yards, leaving him 245 to the hole. That was as tense as the tournament got. The horn blew moments later at 1:52 p.m. and Lee bogeyed the hole when the suspension lifted, his lead now two but the skies now clear. He widened it to the final margin with the birdies at Nos. 17 and 18, where he was greeted by a triple-decker corporate skybox and a round of cheers from the spectators inside. “I (didn’t) want to look on the leaderboard,” Lee said. “I’m very excited and happy.” Lee was an unlikely candidate to contend coming into the Nelson, his 23rd start of the season. Ranked 137th in the Official World Golf Ranking, he had made 14 cuts, but he ranked no better than 80th in any Strokes Gained category. Aside from a tie for second this year in Phoenix, Lee hadn’t contended seriously this season. None of that mattered. He became the eighth player from South Korea to win on TOUR. He did it in his 80th start, in a metropolitan area where tens of thousands of Korean-Americans — estimates suggest as many as 80,000 — make their home. Lee also followed Sung Kang, another Korean-born TOUR player who lives in nearby Frisco, as the winner of the AT&T Byron Nelson. Kang did it in 2019, the last time the event was been played. It was unclear what Lee planned to do next week before he survived a storm and triumphed on TOUR. But he knew Sunday. His victory at the Nelson wasn’t his only first. He was on his way to the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island for his first PGA Championship.

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McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — K.H. Lee was more than happy to play through a steady downpour in the final round of the AT&T Byron Nelson, and didn’t mind waiting out a weather delay of more than two hours Sunday. His win earned him fully-exempt status through the 2022-23 PGA TOUR season, 500 FedExCup points and entry into many of the game’s biggest event’s, starting with this week’s PGA Championship. RELATED: What’s in Lee’s bag? | Final leaderboard | FedExCup standings Lee also earned his first PGA TOUR victory and became the second consecutive AT&T Byron Nelson winner from South Korea by finishing at 25 under, three ahead of third-round leader Sam Burns. Heavy rain fell most of the back nine for the leaders, with puddles showing up on greens over the final holes and one ball in the fairway stuck in the middle of a fast-moving stream. The players slogged through the deluge before lightning forced a delay. Most of the standing water was gone when play resumed two hours and 23 minutes later. Lee missed a par putt on No. 16 to cut his lead to two, but answered with two birdies. The sun came out just as Lee was finishing his 6-under 66. Burns struggled to a 71 to finish at 22 under, a shot ahead of Charl Schwartzel, Daniel Berger, Patton Kizzire and Scott Stallings. Troy Merritt and Joseph Bramlett finished two more back at 19 under. When the delay hit, Jordan Spieth already knew he was going to fall short again in his hometown event, played on its third course in the past four Nelsons at the rain-soaked TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, about 30 miles north of Dallas. Spieth, three back to start the day, shot 71 and tied for ninth, giving him his first top 10 at the Nelson 11 years after he was a contender on Sunday as a 16-year-old when the course was at its home of more than 30 years at the TPC Four Seasons. South Korea’s Sung Kang was the defending champion after winning in 2019. Threesomes started from the first and 10th tees just after daybreak to try to beat a forecast calling for increasing rain throughout the day. Steady rain for two-plus hours got progressively worse as players began ducking for cover under umbrellas immediately after shots and constantly wiped grips with towels. From the start of the round, they got to lift, clean and place their shots in the fairways. Lee overtook Burns, who shot 70, before it got really wet. The 29-year-old from Seoul went ahead for good with a birdie on the par-4 third hole and stretched the lead to four at No. 8 by putting his second shot within 4 feet for birdie. Lee, who finished tied for second at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February, had the lowest score to par at the Nelson on the par-72 TPC Craig Ranch layout, beating 23 under from both years at par-71 Trinity Forest. The TPC Four Seasons was par 70. Lee is getting his third shot at a major after twice missing the cut at the U.S. Open. The first was in 2014, more than three years before his second PGA TOUR appearance. Burns wrapped up his PGA Championship spot two weeks ago with his first TOUR victory at the Valspar Championship when he converted a 54-hole lead into a win after two failed attempts this season. The 54-hole lead again got away from the 24-year-old from Louisiana, who was trying to become the first player since Camilo Villegas in 2008 to get his first two PGA TOUR victories in consecutive starts. Seamus Power was 21 under through eight holes but fell back with a rare double bogey at the par-4 13th on a course that yielded nearly 100 scores in the 60s in the opening round. Power shot 70 and was in the group at 18 under with Spieth, Jhonattan Vegas (67) and Doc Redman (70). Kizzire, the only player with two rounds of 64 or better, was 8 under for the day through 12 before settling for his 63. He vaulted in contention with a second-round 64 before a 71 Saturday.

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