Following his tonsillectomy and recuperation in November, Lee travelled to South Africa for the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City. He is one of twelve players taking part. The invitations to participate in the 2008 Nedbank Golf Challenge were issued to the defending champion, the SA Order of Merit winner, the four Major winners and then completed with the names off the World Rankings (as of the Monday post the US PGA Championship).
Lee has taken part five times in this event, when he finished T4th in 1998, 4th in '99 and lost at the second hole in a play-off against Ernie Els in 2000. In 2001 he finished 5th and took Darren Clarke's place in 2004 to finish in T6th place.
Click here for Leaderboard and Lee's card
Lee had a first round tee-time of 11.58 (local) with Henrik Stenson and opened with a double-bogey, but birdies at 9,10 and 14, saw him finish with a round of 70 and in third place, 7 strokes behind leader Henrik Stenson. He had another round at 11.58 on Friday, with South African, James Kingston and managed to get as far as the 11th hole on one-under par for the day, before lightning stopped play..Lee felt he was just hitting his stride at the Gary Player Country Club when lighting brought play to a complete standstill and was called off completely two hours later.
"I was playing fairly solidly; I hit a lot of good shots", he said. "It's a shame about the 11th. I hit great approach; it pitched just behind the hole and swung back but it lipped out and ran a couple of feet past the hole. But overall I can't complain. This is not an easy course; you have to play well to shoot under par. The wind was also pretty swirling out there. I'm happy with how I am playing though, just need more putts to drop. I hit a lot of greens and fairways, but I just didn't take advantage with the putter. I had a couple of lip-outs but overall, I am struggling with the rhythm and speed, especially the longer putts." He completed his round with another birdie at 16 but dropped shots at the last two holes settling for a 72.
He joined Sergio Garcia for the third round and bogeyed the 6th. He again made birdie at 9 and added more birdies to his card at 10 and 15, finishing with a round of 70 and in T5th place. He had an 11.46 tee-time with KJ Choi for the final round, and made an eagle at the 2nd. He carded two more birdies and bogeys but a double-bogey at the penultimate hole lead to a round of 72 (284) and finishing in T5th place with Sergio Garcia.
Lee remains in South Africa for the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek.
