Craig Andrew Lee (born 9 May 1977) is a Scottish professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er who played on the

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...

. He lost to

Thomas Bjørn Thomas Bjørn (born 18 February 1971) is a professional golfer from Denmark who plays on the European Tour. He is the most successful Danish golfer to have played the game having won fifteen tournaments worldwide on the European Tour. In 1997 he a ...

in a playoff for the 2013

Omega European Masters The Omega European Masters is the Swiss stop on professional men's golf's European Tour, and in 2009 it became the first event in Europe to be co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Founded as the Swiss Open in 1923, the tournament was prefixed with Eu ...

Career

Lee had a successful amateur career in his home country, culminating with a win in the national Boys Stroke Play event in 1995. He turned professional the following year, but struggled to replicate his success, spending many years working as a club professional in the

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

area. In 2007, despite not having a sponsor, Lee advanced through all three stages of

qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

to gain his

card for the first time. However, a poor debut season left Lee without a tour to play on at the start of 2009. He battled back to the second tier

Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe. History The ...

in 2010 courtesy of a runner-up finish in the

English Challenge The English Challenge is a golf tournament on the Challenge Tour, played in England. History The event was held for the first time in 1993 as the Collingtree Park Challenge and was played as the Stockley Park Challenge in 1994. There was a nine- ...

, and his good form on that tour continued through 2011: another second-place finish at the

Saint-Omer Open The Saint-Omer Open is an annual men's professional golf tournament played at Saint-Omer Golf Club in Saint-Omer, France. The tournament was founded in 1997 and was part of the MasterCard Tour a year later, before taking its place on the Challen ...

, a tournament co-sanctioned by the European Tour, helped Lee to 14th place in the season-end standings and a return to the

. From 2012 Lee played primarily on the

before retiring as a touring professional at the end of 2017. He never won on the tour, losing to

in a playoff for the 2013

at Crans-sur-Sierre, when Bjørn holed at 12-foot birdie putt at the first extra hole. Lee had led after at the start of the final round after a third round 61. Lee tied for third place in the 2015

Tshwane Open The Tshwane Open was a golf tournament played since 2013 in Gauteng Province, South Africa. It was played at Copperleaf Golf & Country Estate in Centurion, South Africa in 2013 and 2014 and moved to Pretoria Country Club in Waterkloof in 2015. I ...

in South Africa. His best season was 2013 when he finished 59th in the Order of Merit. Lee was a captain's pick for the 2019

PGA Cup The PGA Cup is a men's golf competition for club professionals played between a Great Britain and Ireland team and a United States team. The winning team is presented with the Llandudno Trophy. The competition is run by the British PGA and the PG ...

team.

Amateur wins

*1995 Scottish Boys Stroke Play Championship

Professional wins (8)

PGA EuroPro Tour wins (1)

EPD Tour wins (2)

Tartan Pro Tour wins (1)

Other wins (4)

*2000

Scottish Assistants' Championship The Scottish Young Professional Championship is a golf tournament for young golfers that has been played since 1958. From its founding until 2002 it was known as the Scottish Assistants' Championship. Initially played over 36 holes it has generall ...

*2009

Northern Open The Northern Open is a golf tournament played annually in Scotland since 1931. For some years it was one of only two 72-hole tournaments on the "Tartan Tour", the PGA Tour in Scotland's schedule, the other being the Scottish PGA Championship, b ...

*2011 American Golf Holiday Scottsdale Classic Pro-Am *2022 Mizuno Next Gen Pro-Am (shared with

Robbie Busher Robbie or Robby is a surname. It is usually encountered as a nickname or a shortened form of Robert, Rob or Robin. The name experienced a significant rise in popularity in Northern Ireland in 2003. People Given name Robbie *Robbie Amell (born ...

)

Playoff record

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

Team appearances

Amateur *

Jacques Léglise Trophy The Jacques Léglise Trophy is an annual amateur boys' team golf competition between Great Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe. It was first played in 1977, as a one-day match before the Boys Amateur Championship, but since 1996 it has b ...

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1995 (winners) Professional *

(representing Great Britain and Ireland): 2019

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Craig Scottish male golfers European Tour golfers Golfers from Stirling 1977 births Living people