On the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour, Jeong Chan-min, who has no player to match in terms of long-distance hitting, won his first major championship in two years since his tour debut.
Jeong Chan-min tied 1 eagle and 3 birdies in the final 3rd round of the GS Caltex Maekyung Open (total prize money of 1.3 billion won) held on the 7th at the Namseoul Country Club (par 71) in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, which also served as an Asian professional golf tour, and finished with a 5 under par 66. He won with a total of 16 under par 197 strokes.
Due to heavy rain on the 6th, the tournament was reduced to a 54-hole match in the third round.
Jeong Chan-min, who never gave up the lead from the first round, won a perfect victory, 6 strokes ahead of Lee Jung-hwan and Song Min-hyuk in a tie for second place.
It is the first win in his life in the tournament he participated in in his 19th appearance after debuting on the KPGA Korean Tour last year.
Jeong Chan-min, who received the prize money of 300 million won, immediately rose to the top of the prize money rankings (305.92 million won).
He also received the KPGA Korean Tour seed until 2028 and the Asian Pro Golf Tour seed until 2025, laying the foundation for stable tour activities for the time being.
Jung Chan-min is a well-known long hitter, taking first place in long hits on the KPGA Korean Tour, which he started last year following the king of long hits on the Srixon Tour.
On the Srixon Tour, he averaged 321.8 yards, and last year on the KPGA Korean Tour, he averaged 317.1 yards.
This year, the average driver shot distance reached a whopping 341 yards.
Jeong Chan-min says that if he puts his mind to it, he easily passes 350 yards.
Thanks to his 188cm tall, 100kg tall, beard-grown appearance and long hit, he even earned the nickname ‘Jeongram’, which is derived from world number 1 John Ram (Spain).
However, he only hit far and failed to achieve outstanding results due to his lack of sophistication.
He only made it to the top 10 twice last year, but only ranked 63rd (101.24 million won) in prize money, and this year, he was outside the 50th place in both competitions he participated in prior to this tournament.
Namseoul Country Club, where the GS Caltex Maekyung Open was held, was a course where precise shots, short games, and green plays were much more important than long hits, so few people predicted Jeong Chan-min’s victory.
Even when Jung Chan-min took the lead with an 8-under par in the first round, which was played in the rain, there were many observations that he would not be able to hold on if the fairways and greens were dry.
Even in the second round, which was raining heavily, Chan-min Jeong saved the lead by three strokes by reducing three strokes. In the final round, when the rain stopped and the pin position was changed to the most difficult place, Jeong Chan-min beat the pursuers with a brilliant short game as well as long hits.
Although he missed the green in hole 1 (par 4), Chan-min Jung kept par lightly with a lob shot reminiscent of a top player on the American Professional Golf (PGA) Tour. I pulled out my first birdie.
In the 4th hole (par 5), he showed off the perfect combination of long hit and short game ability.
The second shot slightly missed the green and fell into the bunker, but the ball hit the bunker turned into an eagle that was sucked into the hole.
Jeong Chan-min, who made an 8m birdie putt on the 8th hole (par 4), also pulled out a birdie too easily on the 9th hole (par 5).
A slightly missed driver tee shot flew about 330 yards, and after dropping it on the side of the green with an iron, it was attached to the hole 1m away with a chip shot.
By reducing 5 strokes to the 9th hole, there was a difference of 6 strokes from the 2nd place.
Jeong Chan-min, who seized the victory, began to harden without taking out the driver.
In hole 15 (par 4), I shot a tee shot with an iron.
But he wasn’t just playing defense.
In the 16th hole (par 4, 535 yards), where catching a birdie is said to be picking a star in the sky, he made a 2m birdie opportunity after hitting nearly 400 yards with a driver. Although he failed to make a birdie putt, thunderous applause poured in.토토사이트
In the 17th hole (par 3), his tee shot fell into the bunker, but Jung Chan-min, who kept the par, even served the fans by turning the driver vigorously in the 18th hole (par 4), where he was in the lead by 6 strokes.
Lee Jung-hwan, who came out of the final round in second place by two strokes, tied for second place (10 under par, 203 strokes) despite reducing one stroke, and received a prize money of 120 million won for second place thanks to the same tied second place being an amateur.
Amateur national team member Song Min-hyeok (19, Korea National Sport University, 1st year) caught 7 birdies without a bogey and won the runner-up, continuing the amateur sensation that hit the KPGA.
In this year’s KPGA Srixon Tour, Jang Yu-bin and Cho Woo-young, representatives of the Hangzhou Asian Games, won in turn, and Cho Woo-young reached the top at the KPGA Korean Tour Golf Zone Open held prior to this tournament.
Jang Yu-bin and Jo Woo-young tied for 8th place (7 under par, 206 strokes), and three amateur players made it to the top 10.
Last year’s champion, Kim Bio, kept his face by finishing in a tie for 6th place (8 under par, 205 strokes).