The UBS Hong Kong Open, this week, will feature its strongest field ever, with 40 of Europe's top 60 players and all of the top 10 from the Asian Tour. It is co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours, and takes place from November 12-15 at the Hong Kong Golf Club, Fanling.
Lee has enjoyed plenty of success in Asia with victories in Japan, Malaysia and Macau but will be making his first appearance in Hong Kong.
“I’m delighted to be playing in the UBS Hong Kong Open for the first time,” Lee said. “I’ve heard great things about the tournament from the other players and it promises to be a fantastic week.
“I understand Fanling is a tight, old-style course that places a lot of emphasis on accuracy so hopefully it will suit my game and I can put on a good show for the fans. Asia has been kind to me in the past and it would be wonderful if I could post another victory in the region.”
Lee is grouped with Wen-tang Lin and Jeev Mikha Singh for the first two rounds with tee-times of 11.20pm GMT from the 10th on Thursday and 3.50am GMT from the 1st on Friday.
Lee had a good first round, with birdies at 13,14 and 18 , dropping a shot at 11 (out in 34) , then birdies at 3,6 and 8, with a bogey at 4 (home in 32) for a first round 66. Four-under for the day, Lee lies in T16th place on the leaderboard, 4 shots behind leader Udorn Duangdecha.
On completion of Friday's round, Lee finished in T32 place, after carding a second round 70. He had a 2.05am GMT start on Saturday with Andrew McLardy and dropped down by one place to T33rd, following a round of 69 and now 5-under for the event. He joined David Rhys at 9.43 (1.43am GMT) for the final round on Sunday.
Lee struggled with a final round 74, slipping down the leaderboard to T54th, which earned him €5,679.59 in prize money and losing the top spot in the Race to Dubai. He now lies in second place €128,173 behind Rory McIlroy and is 5th in World Ranking.
Lee later said about playing this event... "In hindsight I think it probably was a mistake. I obviously didn't know the course because I had never been there, but looking back it definitely didn't suit me."
He added: "It was predominantly a hooker's course, with a lot of shots off the tee where it suited somebody that drew it and hit a hard draw, which is not my shot. I've worked a lot this year on 60-100 yards out, but it's still not as sharp as everybody else and there were a lot of those shots last week".
"There were only two par fives and no rough, which generally doesn't suit my game. I like a harder course where there's a bigger premium on tee-to-green stuff. You occasionally get weeks where things are not in your favour and I had a busy week off the course too. I was a bit lethargic really throughout."
