Danny Lee is a truly global athlete – born in Korea, before moving to New Zealand at the age of eight and now living in Dallas. He saw early success in his golf career winning the 2008 U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst No. 2 at the age of 18 and 1 month, becoming the youngest person to achieve this at the time, surpassing Tiger Woods, and was awarded the 2008 Mark H. McCormack Medal as the #1 ranked amateur at the time.
He also became the youngest winner on the then European Tour when he won the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth, Australia in 2009. He was a member of the 2016 New Zealand Olympic Team and the 2015 International Presidents Cup Team.
Committed to leading the field
In 2022 he joined fellow Dow golf ambassadors in committing to minimizing and offsetting all their travel and evaluating their own lifestyle, calculating their carbon footprint for themselves and their entourage, compensating for unavoidable emissions through climate mitigation projects with GEO Foundation through the Gold Standard, a leading standard-setting body for credible mitigation with impact, and using their incredible platforms to communicate about this journey to inspire other athletes to do the same.
On pledging to be a Sustainable Golf Champion, he said: “Korea and New Zealand are both environmentally conscious, I was exposed to sustainability from a young age, even before I knew what it was. I have kids and we have to think about their futures and what steps we can all take, whether it is helping make people aware of their responsibilities or taking action.
"These can be about recycling and avoiding waste, filling your own water bottles. Encouraging golfers to walk rather than ride a cart – a double win, with wellness of walking and not using gasoline or other energy to charge. We all have a role to play and GEO is my caddy, helping me understand and become more conscious of my responsibilities in all areas."
