Guntaek Koh was the home hero once again as he claimed the Shinhan Donghae Open on the Ocean Course at Club72 for his third win of the season in Korea. He eventually saw off Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai on the first hole of a sudden-death play-off during a race to the finish.

Koh, joint overnight leader with Canadian Richard T Lee, had closed with a four-under-par 68, matching the clubhouse total of 19-under set by Phachara – who, playing in seventh from last group out and starting the day five off the lead, shot a remarkable 63.

The Korean had to birdie the par-five 18th to catch his Thai opponent in regulation play, after hitting a brilliant third shot to three feet, and he then proceeded to make four again in the play-off, holing a 10-footer. Phachara, attempting to become the first Thai to have his name etched on to the trophy, had tried to reach the green in two but found the lake in front of the green. Remarkably, he hit his fourth to 12 feet and drained the par putt forcing Koh to make his for the win, which he duly did, to the roar of the huge crowded assembled there.

Koh’s brilliant finish showed why he has been the dominant player in Korea this year. He leads the Korean PGA Tour rankings having won the 18th DB Insurance Promy Open in April, and the Honors Invitational in June.

“There have been failures in the past few years, but this is my season,” said Koh, who also won his second event this year in extra time.

“The first win this year was the hardest but now I am in the mode and enjoying the experience. Today required a lot of patience and concentration as with Phachara having posted such a good score early on the chase was on. I felt I had to make that birdie putt in the play-off, if not I felt I was going to lose.

“A victory in an event on this scale, against the best from the Asian Tour and Japan Tour is simply incredible.”

Earlier in the day, the 23-year-old from Jeju had a one shot-lead over Lee at the turn after going out in four-under-par 32, thanks to birdies on four and five and an eagle on the par-five seventh, with Phachara another shot back. However, he dropped a shot on 10 and made a double on 13, while Phachara stormed into the lead.

Koh was on the 15th when Phachara finished his round, two-behind the Thai golfer, along with Lee. Both made birdie on that hole to move one closer, but Lee fell away with a bogey on 16, paving the way for Koh’s grandstand finish.

Phachara was looking to secure his second victory on the Asian Tour — his first was the Laguna Phuket Championship at the end of 2021 — but he took solace from the fact he had found is swing again.

“I am back to my old game now,” said the Thai star, “because I only just found my swing last week, before I arrived at this tournament. I found with my coach on Sunday.

“I had lost it about three weeks ago. For those two events in UK my swing was gone. I was relying on my short game to make the cut in those UK events. I couldn’t figure it out until my coach helped.”

With two fourth-place finishes this year it will surely not be long before he wins again.

He added: “My game now is very, very good. Best since I started playing golf. Normally my driver is the problem but now it’s great. I hit many fairways today and I had a lot of birdies.”

Lee, winner of this event in 2017, returned a 70 and tied for third with Japan’s Keita Nakajima and Australian Anthony Quayle.

The post Koh’s purple patch continues with a Korean hat-trick appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Matt Smith
South Korean home favourite Dongmin Lee ensured experience counted as he shot a six-under 65 to take command of the Maekyung Open at Namseoul Country Club.

Dongmin holds a one-shot lead over compatriot Hyungjoon Lee, and he drew on the experience of having played this event many times — as the Asian Tour returned to Korea for the first time since 2019.

“I have a lot of experience on this course, so I know exactly where I shouldn’t go and where I should go,” said Dongmin, 36, a two-time winner on the Korean PGA Tour and a professional for 20 years.

“A first-day six-under is great. I hope I can play the rest of the tournament this well. It’s my best score in this course. Namseoul is difficult, but I played aggressively, and things worked out well.”

Hyungjoon added: “I teed up early in the morning on the back nine. There was no wind really until the second [11th] and third [12th] holes. It was easy to make a birdie. I felt confident.

“I had about a three-week break after the season opening tournament and I spent a lot of time practising my putting to get ready for Namseoul. I really wanted to work on my feel and touch. I practised at quite a lot of different venues and came to Namseoul four times.”

Bio Kim, winner of this event in 2012, and Junggon Hwang, a four-time winner in Japan, fired 67s.

Thailand’s Natipong Srithong carded a 68 along with Asian Tour Qualifying School graduates Neil Schietekat from South Africa and Ireland’s Kevin Phelan, as well as India’s Khalin Joshi, Canadian Richard Lee and Koreans Doyeob Mun, Junghwan Lee and Yoon Chung.

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The post Asian Tour: South Korean veteran Dongmin Lee makes experience count at Maekyung Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
A former PGA Tour player has been suspended from the Korean Tour for three years after making an obscene gesture during Sunday’s final round of the DGB Financial Group Volvik Daegu Gyeongbuk Open. Yes, that’s correct. Three years.

According to the AFP, Bio Kim flipped off the crowd and slammed his club in frustration after hearing a fan’s cell phone go off while he hit a shot on the 16th hole. Kim held a one-shot lead at the time and wound up winning for his second KPGA title of the season. After, he apologized for his outburst. Apparently, it wasn’t enough to keep the tour’s governing body from issuing a stiff punishment.

The KPGA reached a unanimous decision to fine Kim $8,350 (Or 10 million won) and suspend him for three years. The tour’s current leader in money and player of the year points will not be allowed to finish the season.

“Kim Bi-o damaged the dignity of a golfer with etiquette violation and inappropriate behaviour,” the tour said in a statement.

On Tuesday, an emotional Kim appeared—and kneeled—before Korean media to apologise in a powerful AFP image circulating the internet.

Gotta be one of the wildest stories of the year: The Korean Tour money leader has been suspended for three years … for flipping off the crowd!https://t.co/S6eUpJzXkZ pic.twitter.com/htPXILKr6z

— Ryan Lavner (@RyanLavnerGC) October 1, 2019

And here’s video of the incident:

A THREE-year ban, for this! pic.twitter.com/O3HZPueY2s

— Ryan Lavner (@RyanLavnerGC) October 1, 2019

A tour pro flashing the middle finger isn’t a rarity, but such a penalty, obviously, is. In August, cameras caught Emiliano Grillo flipping off the hole after missing a putt that would have gotten him into the weekend at the Northern Trust. It is unclear if Grillo was fined because the PGA Tour doesn’t make such info public, but he clearly wasn’t suspended (not that he should have been) because he played in the BMW Championship the following week.

Kim, 29, played on the PGA Tour in 2011 after making it through Q school. He made 25 starts that season, making 10 cuts and recording five top-25 finishes, including a T-11 at the Puerto Rico Open. The five-time Korean Tour winner also spent two seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour.

The post Former PGA Tour player gets three-year suspension from Korean Tour for obscene gesture during tournament appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.