Taichi Kho made history by becoming the first player from Hong Kong to win an Asian Tour event after he recorded a hugely popular and significant victory at the inaugural World City Championship at Hong Kong Golf Club.

Kho, who only turned professional in January, triumphed by two shots from New Zealand’s Michael Hendry on another wet day at HKGC to fittingly celebrate the week he was announced as an ambassador for the club and the return of international tournament golf to Hong Kong for the first time in 38 months.

The 22-year-old Kho closed with an even-par 70 to finish the tournament, which was reduced to 54 holes because of the inclement weather, on 12-under, and also secure one of the four spots up for grabs in this year’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in July.

Hendry shot a 68 while Australian Travis Smyth returned a 66 to finish third, three behind Kho. Korean Bio Kim (65) and Miguel Tabuena (72) from the Philippines tied for fourth, a shot further back.

Hendry, Smyth and Kim also made it through to The Open, where Kho will also become the first Hong Kong player to compete in the game’s oldest and most prestigious Major. Kim secured his berth ahead of Tabuena due to a better world ranking.

“Being at home, in front of everyone, having my parents here, it just means the world to me. I want to say thank you to everyone,” said Kho.

“I can’t put into words how grateful I am to have this opportunity. To play on the Asian Tour and represent Hong Kong Golf Club, to play well with both those things it is very special. The fans gave me a lot of momentum, thank you to Hong Kong.”

Saturday’s poor weather meant Kho could only play two holes of his third round before play was stopped for the day at which point he had a healthy four-shot lead over Tabuena. But when played resumed at 8.05am on Sunday he struggled to find his rhythm, to the concern of his many local supporters, and dropped shots on the third and sixth to see his lead reduced to two.

However, to the delight and relief of everyone watching he sensationally got back on track when he holed out from 50 yards for a birdie on the par-four ninth before holing a difficult five-foot putt for par on the next.

A dropped shot on the ensuing hole was again cause for alarm especially as further ahead Smyth and Korean Yoseop Seo had made birdies to close the gap to one.

But Kho produced another master shot on the short par-three 12th nearly holing his tee shot. He confidently holed a four-foot putt there for a birdie and a two-shot advantage.

On the par-five 13th he reached the green in two to set up a birdie for a three-shot cushion. He then had a chance to go four ahead on the following hole but missed a 12 footer for birdie before he dropped a shot on the next after failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker.

That mean he had a two-shot lead over Smyth with three to play but it soon moved to three when the Australian dropped a shot on the last.

And by the time he reached 18 his lead was back to two over playing partner Hendry, who made a strong finish with birdies on 16 and 17. Kho opted to hit driver on the famous par-four closing hole and to the thrill of the large gallery watching his ball landed safely to help set up a comfortable, drama free par.

He said: “I definitely wasn’t fearless, I was nervous, which was perfectly natural in the moment, but I said to myself I will be a better player by the end of it. I stuck to my game plan, did not shy away from him it and fully committed to what I have in my book. I told my coach last night whether I have a two-shot lead or back by one on the last hole, I am taking driver, and I fully committed to that. That’s the reason why I succeeded this week.”

This is only Kho’s third event as a professional on the Asian Tour as he made it through the Tour’s Qualifying School in January. He is the third fastest graduate from the school to win on tour.

The post Taichi Kho books spot at Open Championship with historic win at World City Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Taichi Kho’s dream debut as a professional in an Asian Tour event at the Hong Kong Golf Club, his home course, continued when he took the second round-lead in the $1million World City Championship.

The 22 year old brilliantly fired his second-successive six-under-par 64 to lead by two from Filipino Miguel Tabuena, the first-round leader, who shot 67, and winner of last week’s The DGC Open in India.

New Zealand’s Michael Hendry is third, four behind Kho, after returning a 64.

Kho, a member of the HKGC since January and was unveiled this week as their ambassador, is 12-under and now has an outstanding opportunity to become the first player from Hong Kong to win on the Asian Tour – which would be especially significant as this event is the first international golf tournament in Hong Kong, China for 38 months.

Notre Dame graduate Kho played flawless bogey-free golf making two birdies on the front before four more on the second half, including one on the famous par-four 18th.

“Yeah, just a really great round of golf and I putted really well today,” said Kho. “And you know like I said yesterday, I’m just gonna go out there and try my best on every shot and that’s exactly what I did. And I was able to roll a few putts in and it added up to a total of 64, so very happy with the day.”

He graduated at the Asian Tour Qualifying School in January, in 24th place, made it through to the weekend in the two Tour events he played after that, and after another fine round today showed he is clearly revelling playing at this level.

Although appearing outwardly very calm he admitted there have been plenty of nerves over the first two days.

He said: “Yeah, I mean, I felt it a little more today, but overall, I feel like I did a really good job of just kind of being in my own bubble and focusing on myself, and felt like it was just myself and the golf ball out there today. So yeah, I’m just gonna try and tap into that tomorrow.”

.@migueltabuena riding wave of form at the #WorldCityChampionship ?#HKGC #whereitsAT pic.twitter.com/etYlYZfDqR

— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) March 24, 2023

Tabuena, who led with a 63 yesterday, impressively recovered from a double-bogey on his opening hole.

“It was great, I was proud of the way I fought,” said the 28 year old. “I didn’t get off to a good start, a bit of an errant drive again on the 11th hole [he started on the back nine], pulled it and had to take an unplayable. But told myself that there’s a lot of holes left, there’s two more days left, you know there’s no need to panic or there’s no need to be worried. You know you’ve been playing well and just got to keep patient and just trot along.”

The Filipino admits to not being far away from playing his best golf.

He added: “I believe I’m pretty close, like I said, I have a lot of confidence. But you also gotta learn how to control it right? Especially on this course you know, it’s very easy to be overconfident. So, just gotta stick to my routine, stick to my game plan and I know that if I do that, I will have a shot on the back nine on Sunday.”

Korean Yoseop Seo returned a 64 and is solo fourth, five back from Kho.

Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond (67) and Suradit Yongcharoenchai (68) are a further stroke back along with Zimbabwe’s Kieran Vincent (67).

Australia’s Wade Ormsby, winner of the International Series Thailand two weeks ago and a two-time Hong Kong Open champion at HKGC, shot a 70 and is one-under.

England’s Ian Poulter, the Hong Kong Open winner here in 2010, carded a 72 to finish on even par which was the cut mark.

The post Asian Tour: Taichi Kho edges ahead of Philippines’ Tabuena on his home course in Hong Kong appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Huggan
DUBAI, U.A.E. — Right from the start, he was the man to beat in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. And, in the end, no one did. It took the world’s leading amateur, Keita Nakajima, 74 holes to get the job done, but the 21-year-old from Japan was just good enough to see off a stream of final-round challengers, the last being Taichi Kho of Hong Kong in a playoff after the pair tied at 14-under 270 in regulation at the Dubai Creek course.

The numbers make impressive reading, adding this latest title to an ever-lengthening and increasingly impressive list of victories. Already, Nakajima has won the Australian Amateur, the Japanese Amateur (after four runners-up finishes), two gold medals at the Asian Games and, against the professionals, the Panasonic Open on the Japanese Tour. And now he can add a trip to Augusta, Ga., to his 2022 itinerary. Already exempt into the U.S. Open and the Open Championship through his status as World No. 1, the student at Nippon Sports Science University will be invited to join compatriot and defending champion, Hideki Matsuyama, at next year’s Masters.

Which will come as something of a relief. Nakajima, the third Japanese golfer after Matsuyama and Takumi Kanaya to be hailed the No. 1 amateur on the planet—in recognition of which he received the Mark H. McCormack medal on Friday evening—was desperate to follow their lead for a second time by winning this championship.

“Takumi has become a good friend and mentor to me, and we played on the national team together for some time,” he said. “He once told me to ‘confront yourself and keep challenging.’ I really like that and will try and follow his advice. So I’m excited and I’m very happy to follow Hideki and Takumi. I have three major tournaments next year, and I can’t wait. It’s so nice. I think it’s an honour to attend this event, and I’m so happy to win. It’s a great tournament. I had a great week.”

That he did, one that brought with it those big and well-earned rewards at the close of a final day in which the leading 10 finishers made 56 birdies and an eagle between them over the 6,795-yard course. Nakajima made six of those birdies (seven if we include the clinching birdie on the second playoff hole) and survived all sorts of ups-and-downs over the course of an ever-changing four-and-a-bit hours he spent hitting 68 shots and pulling his own trolley.

Winning in style ?

Showing why @keita_nakajima2 is the World Number One ? pic.twitter.com/XqlUCTPIEC

— Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (@AAC_Golf) November 6, 2021

Indeed, Nakajima’s closing effort was hardly without error. A dropped shot at the par-4 sixth was a mere blip given the four-shot advantage he enjoyed early. But the double-bogey 6 he perpetrated on the ninth spelled trouble with a capital T. Suddenly all kinds of players were given hope where previously there had been close to none.

Still, it is in such moments that true class tells. And Nakajima stepped up, playing the back-nine in three under par to set up the playoff with Kho, who had followed up his third-round 64 with an almost-as-nifty 65.

It was Kho who hit the better drive and the better approach on the first playoff hole, a return to Dubai Creek’s par-4 18th. But Nakajima, as he had done on the last hole of regulation, made a matching par from the waste area right of the narrow fairway. And it was from there again, one hole later, that the destination of the trophy was eventually decided.

From a lie that was less appetizing than those Nakajima had been faced with, Kho’s attempted approach caught the lip and finished in the water. As it turned out, the champion’s final birdie was less than vital. Had the ball missed the cup, Nakajima, second behind Kanaya in this event three years ago, had two more putts with which to clinch his victory.

“I was up against the lip,” said Kho, a college golfer at Notre Dame, of his ultimately unveiling attempt to find the 18th green for third time in less than an hour. “It wasn’t a great lie, and I just caught it a hair thin, the ball hitting the top of the bunker. But if I had it to do again, I would pick the same shot, have the same process. I did everything I could to hit a good shot, but it just didn’t turn out my way. I have no regrets looking back. Today’s back nine, even the playoff, really gives me a lot of confidence going forward. I did a lot of things that I know that I can, but it’s another to actually do it under pressure. I feel really proud of myself.”

Graham Uden
Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho, after closing rounds of 64-65, took Nakajima to a playoff, but a watery approach on the second extra hole cost him.

A bit further down the leader board, the defending champion, China’s Yuxin Lin, pulled up in a tie for seventh place, which was not how it was supposed to go for the 21-year-old who is a junior at the University of Florida. The head-to-head battle he was seemingly destined to have with Nakajima—the pair played alongside each other in three of the four rounds—never really materialized.

Put it down to Lin’s version of a “triple-double.” The first of those came as early as the second hole, where his approach found the water fronting the green; the second arrived at the 15th, the result of a lost ball off the tee. Two pars at those holes and Lin would have been holding the trophy at this event for the third time.

That honor belongs to Nakajima, a young man who started playing at the age 6 after watching Tiger Woods on television and who personifies the phrase “star of the future.” Already he is playing golf on a level that is competitive at the highest level. Only a few weeks ago, he finished a creditable T-28 in his PGA Tour debut at the Zozo Championship. His score there matched the likes of Olympic champion Xander Schauffele, Joaquin Niemann and Charley Hoffman and was better than Rickie Fowler, Olympic bronze medallist, C.T. Pan, and Will Zalatoris, runner-up in this year’s Masters.

So the kid can play, something he did better than anyone else this week.

The post A simple motivation propelled World No. 1 Keita Nakajima to the biggest win of his young career appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.