Ko Gun-taek dominates Shinhan Donghae Open…
Ko Gun-taek (고군택) became the first player in five years to win three times in a season on the Korean Professional Golf Association (KPGA) Korean Tour.
Ko shot a 4-under 68 with an eagle, five birdies, a bogey and a double bogey in the final round of the 39th Shinhan Donghae Open (total prize money of 1.4 billion won) on Tuesday at the Ocean Course (par-72, 7,204 yards) of Club 72 Country Club in Jung-gu, Incheon.
With a final total of 19-under-par 269, Ko finished tied with Pachara Kongwatmai (Thailand), who won with a birdie on the first hole of the playoff. He took home 252 million won.
Ko, who has played on the Korean Tour since 2020, lifted the trophy for the first time at the season-opening DB Insurance PromiOpen in April, followed by the Honors K-Solago CC Hanjangsang Invitational in July and this event, giving him three victories this season.
This marks the first time in five years that a Korean Tour player has collected three wins in a season since Park Sang-hyun (three) in 2018.
The Shinhan Donghae Open is a tournament co-hosted by the Korean Tour, Japan Professional Golf Tour (JGTO) and Asian Tour, and Ko Gun-taek is seeded fifth on the Korean Tour and second on the JGTO and Asian Tour.
With the win, Ko moved into first place on the Genesis Order of Merit (47.65 points) and second place on the money list (539.7 million won) behind Seung Soo Han (USA – 663.17 million won).
Ko, who was tied for the lead with Lee Tae-hoon (CAN) through three rounds, opened the day with four birdies, including an eagle on the seventh hole (par-5), to take a one-stroke lead, but a bogey on the 10th hole (par-4), the first hole of the back nine, kept the leaders in the mix.
As the champions struggled to reduce their mid-round deficit, Kong Wattmai, who started the day over an hour earlier, emerged as the dark horse with a birdie on the 15th to move to nine under par.
Ko, who struggled with his shot at the 13th (par-5) and made a double bogey to fall back to three shots, rebounded with a birdie at the 14th (par-4).
At the 15th hole (par-4), Ko and Lee hit sharp second shots side-by-side for birdie to close to within one shot of Kong Wattmai.
A bogey on the next hole (par-4) put Lee out of contention, and Ko breathed a sigh of relief when his birdie putt sailed more than a meter over the hole to save par.
Ko kept his hopes of a comeback alive by holing out for par at the 17th (par-3), but his third shot at the 18th (par-5) left him 97 meters short of the hole, giving him a perfect birdie opportunity and eventually sending the match into overtime.
The tide turned on the second shot of the first overtime on the 18th hole.
With a third shot in mind, Ko’s softly struck second shot landed in the left rough, while Kong’s strong second shot, aiming for a two-on, went into the water.
After being penalized, Kongwatmai put his fourth shot on the green and holed his first attempted par putt to put pressure on Ko, but Ko calmly made his third shot for birdie to seal the match.
“With the experience of my first win, I can only think of good things in the race for the title, and it seems to lead to second and third wins,” said Go Gun-taek. 카지노사이트 “I am honored to have achieved three wins in the season, which was achieved by the top players on the tour, and I will work hard in the remaining tournaments for a fourth win.”
Kongwatmai, who set the record for the youngest winner in men’s golf history (14 years, 2 months) at the ASEAN PGA Tour’s Singha Hua Hin Open in July 2013 before turning pro, missed out on a second Asian Tour victory by one stroke. His only Asian Tour victory came at the Laguna Phuket Championship in December 2021.
Lee Tae-hoon, who was looking to return to the top of the leaderboard after a six-year absence, finished tied for third (17-under 271) with Keita Nakajima (JPN) and Anthony Quayle (AUS), while 2018 winner Park Sang-hyun (KOR) was tied for sixth (16-under 272) with Ok Tae-hoon and Kieran Vincent (ZIM).
Amateur international Jo Woo-young, who will compete at the Hangzhou Asian Games, is tied for 11th (14-under par 274) with Ryo Ishikawa (Japan), Moon Moon-jun and Heo In-ho.
Ham Jeong-woo and Shin Sang-hoon are tied for 19th (13-under par 275), while Kim Min-kyu, Song Young-han and Park Eun-shin are tied for 25th (12-under par 276). 슬롯