New Zealand’s amateur sensation Danny Lee showed why he is a star in the making when he claimed a dream victory at the Johnnie Walker Classic on Sunday.    

The 18-year-old birdied his closing two holes for a five-under-par 67 to edge out Japan’s Hiroyuki Fujita, Felipe Aguilar of Chile and overnight co-leader Ross McGowan of England by one stroke at The Vines Resort and Country Club in Western Australia.

It was a terrific performance by the Korean-born Lee, who first made the world sit up and take notice of his prodigious talent when he became the youngest winner at the US Amateur Championship last year, eclipsing Tiger Woods’ record.

The victory, courtesy of his winning total of 17-under-par 271, made Lee the first amateur to win the prestigious Johnnie Walker Classic in 18 editions where past champions include his idol Woods, Greg Norman, Ernie Els, Fred Couples and Nick Faldo.

“It feels like I’m in a dream and I hope nobody wakes me up,” said Lee, who wasn’t eligible to win the US$304,286 top cheque due to his amateur status.

“I have won a couple of amateur tournaments before, but this is a different feeling than that. This is a pro event, and all I wanted to do here was to make the cut and get into the top-20. That was my goal and today I played extremely well and I won.”

Lee’s triumph made him the fifth youngest winner on the Asian Tour and youngest on the European Tour at the age of 18 years and 213 days. He also became the fourth amateur to win a professional tournament in Asia and second to do so in a European Tour event.