Latest news with #KoreanPGATour
The Sun
22-05-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
Pre-qualifier Jung steals the limelight
Qualifier Jung Yujun from South Korea is the surprise first-round leader at the Kolon Korea Open, after he carded a six-under-par 65 on the Dunes Course at La Vie Est Belle golf club – north-east of the capital Seoul. Jung made it through a 36-hole pre-qualifier, at the same venue, earlier in the month and drew on that experience to set the pace today, shooting the only spotless bogey-free round of the day. It was an impressive result considering the penal set-up. At 7,423 yards it is long and, as is the norm at this tournament, it has been configured like a US Open course with exceptionally narrow fairways and fast greens. He made six birdies and leads by two from Thailand's Phachara Khongwatmai and Australian Jed Morgan, both in with 67s – in what is the 67th staging of Korea's flagship event and the seventh stop of the season on the Asian Tour. Jung, aged 22, only debuted on the Korean PGA Tour two years ago but showed little sign of his inexperience at this level today. 'The course was harder than in qualifying,' he said. 'The pin placements are tricky, and the greens are fast. Plus, the teeing area has been moved back and the rough is longer.' He started on the back nine, making birdie on his opening hole, the 10th. Birdies on 13, 17, one, five and six followed. 'Overall, I was happy with all my play. My tee shots have been shaky lately, but today both my tee shots and putting were good. The birdie putts dropped,' he added. 'The fairways are very narrow, but I was able to overcome that because I had good tee shots. I didn't have a good flow in the beginning of the round, but it got better and better. I think I'm improving little by little.' He said he's also been working on hitting the ball further – a big advantage on this week's layout. He explained: 'My distance has increased since last year. I am hitting it long now and can hit up to 300 metres. Round one is now over. There are still three days left. I'll try to play with the same mindset as in the first round.' Phachara, still looking for his second win on the Asian Tour despite a plethora of second-place finishes – 10 to be exact – was delighted with his strong start. 'Surprised to shoot four under today, on a difficult course. I didn't have any expectations. Just wanted to relax, play freely and not be serious. 'I have not been playing much as I have been spending time with family, nursing a few minor injuries. I have been resting a lot but now my game is starting to gradually come. It's on the up.' He made five birdies and dropped just one shot. He added: 'The course is difficult. If you hit your driver well, you can make a good score. But also, if you miss your driver on the correct side, you can still score well.' His compatriot Denwit Boriboonsub, and Korea's Minsu Kim, an amateur, Jeunghun Wang, Songgyu Yoo and Junhung Jang are tied for fourth following 68s. A shot back are Giwhan Kim, Jinho Choi and Doyeon Hwang from Korea, plus Thailand's Sadom Kaewkanjana, Poom Saksansin and Suteepat Prateeptienchai Defending champion Minkyu Kim had a disappointing day. The Korean, who also won in 2022, fired an 81.
The Sun
04-05-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
Opportunity knocks for Jazz and Vincent at GS Caltex Maekyung Open
THAILAND'S Jazz Janewattananond will have an outstanding opportunity to claim his first title in three years tomorrow – after he finished in share of the third-round lead at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open today. The 29-year-old, a seven-time winner on the Asian Tour and the Order of Merit champion in 2019, carded a battling three-under-par 68 here at Namseoul Country Club. He shares the lead with Baekjun Kim from Korea, who emerged from a tightly packed leaderboard brimming with talent, after firing a 66. Kim won the opening event of the season on the Korean PGA Tour last month. The leading duo are eight under for tournament – which is considered to be one of Korea' s majors and is the fifth stop of the year on the Asian Tour. Canada's Yonggu Shin (68) and Korean Hyungjoon Lee (71), the second-round leader, are one stroke back in joint third. Zimbabwe's Scott Vincent – another Asian Tour star looking for his first victory since 2022 – is a shot further back after shooting a 68. He is in solo fifth place and one ahead of Thailand's Sarit Suwannarut, who returned a 69. Jazz bravely holed a six footer for par on 18 to ensure he starts tomorrow in front. Said the Thai: 'Grinding, I hit it everywhere today. Got up and down from most places, missed out on a couple. But overall, I just feel like everything that I've done up to this point, the one thing that kind of keep me alive is scrambling, which is good, that's what you need here.' Should he win tomorrow it would also be his second significant victory in the Land of Morning Calming, having claimed the Korea Open in 2019 – the year he won on four occasions. A couple of brilliant saves were the highlight of his round. He made an incredible yet unconventional four on the par-five fourth. He found trouble left off the tee and had to take a drop; played a recovery back into the fairway; then holed his next shot from 64 yards for a birdie. Later, on the 10th he made another unexpected save. Once again he drove his ball left into trees, chipped his ball back into the fairway and scrambled a par four. He added: 'The fourth hole, oh, my god, yeah. I mean, I pulled it slightly, it wasn't a bad shot, it just got a bit unlucky, hit the path and jumped into the bush. Had to take an unplayable and then just laid up to a good distance where I know I can get there. I walked up to the ball, did my distance and then I told my caddy this is a good distance, I should have a nice, easy par putt. But then, you know, just a bit luckier than a par putt.' Vincent, the 2022 International Series Ranking champion who played the LIV Golf League the past two years, could have finished closer to the leaders but three putted the 18th. Like Jazz, his ball finished on the lower front tier of the treacherous green and he left his first putt up the steep slope short. Unlike Jazz though, he missed his par putt from 10 feet. 'Just playing the weekend is a PR for me, so that's a win,' said Vincent, who missed the cut the one and only time he played here in 2018. 'Today was great, I'm really happy. It was a tough day. I find this golf course really challenging. And yeah, just encouraged by the way that I just stayed patient and then got a few to go towards the middle of the back nine. 'And yeah, the last hole is one of those. It's one of those holes where you need a great club in, you need to hit it right on the number. You can't go long, short is better than long, but then you have got to deal with the putt. So, it's one of those, it's just golf. I get another crack at it tomorrow and we'll try to do better.' Moments earlier he'd played the shot of the day by hitting it close on the long and daunting par-four 16th. He nailed the putt for the only birdie of the day there. It was his third birdie on the trot. Richard T. Lee was well and truly in the hunt but bogeyed the last two holes. The Canadian, who won on the Korean PGA Tour last weekend, carded a 71 and is eight behind the pacesetters.
The Sun
04-05-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
Opportunity knocks for Jazz at GS Caltex Maekyung Open
THAILAND'S Jazz Janewattananond will have an outstanding opportunity to claim his first title in three years tomorrow – after he finished in share of the third-round lead at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open today. The 29-year-old, a seven-time winner on the Asian Tour and the Order of Merit champion in 2019, carded a battling three-under-par 68 here at Namseoul Country Club. He shares the lead with Baekjun Kim from Korea, who emerged from a tightly packed leaderboard brimming with talent, after firing a 66. Kim won the opening event of the season on the Korean PGA Tour last month. The leading duo are eight under for tournament – which is considered to be one of Korea' s majors and is the fifth stop of the year on the Asian Tour. Canada's Yonggu Shin (68) and Korean Hyungjoon Lee (71), the second-round leader, are one stroke back in joint third. Zimbabwe's Scott Vincent – another Asian Tour star looking for his first victory since 2022 – is a shot further back after shooting a 68. He is in solo fifth place and one ahead of Thailand's Sarit Suwannarut, who returned a 69. Jazz bravely holed a six footer for par on 18 to ensure he starts tomorrow in front. Said the Thai: 'Grinding, I hit it everywhere today. Got up and down from most places, missed out on a couple. But overall, I just feel like everything that I've done up to this point, the one thing that kind of keep me alive is scrambling, which is good, that's what you need here.' Should he win tomorrow it would also be his second significant victory in the Land of Morning Calming, having claimed the Korea Open in 2019 – the year he won on four occasions. A couple of brilliant saves were the highlight of his round. He made an incredible yet unconventional four on the par-five fourth. He found trouble left off the tee and had to take a drop; played a recovery back into the fairway; then holed his next shot from 64 yards for a birdie. Later, on the 10th he made another unexpected save. Once again he drove his ball left into trees, chipped his ball back into the fairway and scrambled a par four. He added: 'The fourth hole, oh, my god, yeah. I mean, I pulled it slightly, it wasn't a bad shot, it just got a bit unlucky, hit the path and jumped into the bush. Had to take an unplayable and then just laid up to a good distance where I know I can get there. I walked up to the ball, did my distance and then I told my caddy this is a good distance, I should have a nice, easy par putt. But then, you know, just a bit luckier than a par putt.' Vincent, the 2022 International Series Ranking champion who played the LIV Golf League the past two years, could have finished closer to the leaders but three putted the 18th. Like Jazz, his ball finished on the lower front tier of the treacherous green and he left his first putt up the steep slope short. Unlike Jazz though, he missed his par putt from 10 feet. 'Just playing the weekend is a PR for me, so that's a win,' said Vincent, who missed the cut the one and only time he played here in 2018. 'Today was great, I'm really happy. It was a tough day. I find this golf course really challenging. And yeah, just encouraged by the way that I just stayed patient and then got a few to go towards the middle of the back nine. 'And yeah, the last hole is one of those. It's one of those holes where you need a great club in, you need to hit it right on the number. You can't go long, short is better than long, but then you have got to deal with the putt. So, it's one of those, it's just golf. I get another crack at it tomorrow and we'll try to do better.' Moments earlier he'd played the shot of the day by hitting it close on the long and daunting par-four 16th. He nailed the putt for the only birdie of the day there. It was his third birdie on the trot. Richard T. Lee was well and truly in the hunt but bogeyed the last two holes. The Canadian, who won on the Korean PGA Tour last weekend, carded a 71 and is eight behind the pacesetters.
The Sun
01-05-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
An leads GS Caltex Maekyung Open
Fifteen-year-old amateur star Seonghyeon An is the surprise early leader at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open, on Thursday at Namseoul Country Club in Seoul, Korea. The Korean national team player fired a first-round 5-under par 66 for the clubhouse lead on a weather effected day, when lightning and rain caused significant delays. Seventy two players were unable to complete their rounds and will return early tomorrow morning. Jaewoong Eom from Korea is in outright second place after a 67. His compatriots Baekjun Kim, Donghwan Lee, Jaeho Kim, and Yeonggyu Park are next best placed with 68s – in what is the Asian Tour's first visit of the year to Korea. An was in the second group out on tee 10 and was in the lead on four under after 11 holes before a nearly four-hour delay caused by lightning brought the event to a standstill. Played was stopped mid morning and resumed at after lunch. The delay did little to stop An's momentum. He had five birdies and dropped one shot before the break and when he returned he finished off his round with a birdie and six pars. Showing maturity beyond his years he got up and down for pars on seven and eight before narrowly missing a four-foot birdie putt on his last after another excellent chip. He said: 'It's my third appearance this year and I'm always nervous every time I come out and today was no different, but I just wanted to play my best and I think I did a good job. I want to play harder in the second round to get through qualifying and do my best in the main draw.' An has been making waves over the past few years. In 2022 he became the youngest player to make the cut on the Korean PGA Tour, when he was 13 years old and four months at the Bizplay-Electronic times Open. And last year he made history by becoming the first Korean to win The R&A Junior Open – a title won by American Patrick Reed in 2006. He was also fifth in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship last season. He admitted to drawing inspiration from this year's Master champion. 'I've been watching Rory McIlroy's grand slam recently,' he added. 'I've been thinking a lot about how I want to be like him. It's good to see that even when you fail, you keep trying and succeed.' When asked if he felt his game recently had not been his best he responded: 'My shots have been a little shaky lately. I've been struggling to get a grip. My tee shots and iron shots have not been going the way I wanted and I was missing a lot. I've been working a lot on my iron shots, and it is starting to work.' There is a long way to go before a winner is crowned on Sunday but the young maestro will attempt to become only the third amateur to win what is one of Korea's most prestigious titles. Korean amateur Kim Joo-heun triumphed in 1982, the inaugural year of the event, while Eddie Lee, an amateur from New Zealand, was victorious in 2002 – the year it was also played at Namseoul. Eom was one of only two players to go bogey free today. 'Tough day, with the weather,' said the Korean, who missed the cut here last year and later in the season made the cut in his final six events to keep his Asian Tour card, in 55th place on the Order of Merit. 'Physically very tough and a difficult golf course so I am very happy to shoot 67. It's a good score today.' Richard T. Lee from Canada, a winner last week on the Korean PGA, is in a group of players who fired a 69. Koreans Wooyoung Cho and Chanmin Jung, the winner here two years ago, are the best placed still on the course at five and four under respectively. Cho has three holes remaining and Jung four. – Asian Tour
