Sweden’s Bjorn Hellgren took the outright lead at the halfway point of the Shinhan Donghae Open today by firing a phenomenal eight-under-par 64 at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club – a performance that bare the mark of the Golden Bear himself.

His bogey-free round placed him one ahead of Koreans Taehoon OK (65) and Sanghee Lee (66), plus Japan’s Ryutaro Nagano (67) and Taiki Yoshida (68).

Hellgren, the 34-year-old looking for his first win on the Asian Tour, made an eagle and six birdies for one of the finest rounds of his 12-year professional career.

Playing in the penultimate group of the day, and having started on 10, he stormed through in fading light with three birdies in-a-row from the third and an eagle on the par-five seventh.

“Well, starting off we knew the rain was coming, so we knew we had to bag a few birdies early,” said Hellgren.

“We didn’t do it yesterday, so… then kind of the rain didn’t come in as hard as we thought, so then we thought maybe we’d take advantage of that. The greens started rolling pretty good, and we just hit it where we wanted all the time. So good teamwork and, yeah, pretty strong finish, so I’m happy with it.”

Taehoon OK.

The Swede hit it close all day and capitalised on every opportunity,

“Yeah, we were lucky there, we had a few. Had a couple that were like inside three feet, so I guess good numbers from the caddie,” he added.

On his eagle on seven he explained: “Oh, it was just perfect. We knew if we hit a soft driver we’re not reaching that one trap and it was in the middle of the fairway. And then we had a new Callaway seven wood, and we knew that it’s a perfect number for the front edge, and it just pitched there and it released a little. I made, I don’t know, a seven-metre putt probably. I got pulled off as something disturbed me, so I walked off, and then I came back to it. It was getting hard to see. It was downhill, and it was just lucky.”

OK, the number one ranked player on the Korean PGA Tour, moved into contention saying mental strength has been at the heart of his return to form this year.

Three years ago he hit the registered the biggest win of his career by claiming the inaugural International Series Korea on Jeju Island.

However, he has had to wait until this year for more success to materialise. He’s won twice in Korea and had five other top-fives. On the Asian Tour he has not featured much but that looks set to change this week.

“This year, I think I’ve my mentality has been great, so that’s been my strength,” he said, following a round built on an eagle and five birdies.

“Actually, I did a great job with putter and short game today, and I had some good par saves.”

His eagle also came on the par-five seventh.

“It felt great,” he said of the eagle. “The second shot was like 230 metres away with a bit of tail wind. My second shot was perfect, and I made a great putt.”

Younghan Song.

After the sunshine on the opening day, the weather closed in today with grey skies expected to be followed by poorer weather over the weekend.

Added Ok: “I know that it’s gonna rain until 10 in the morning tomorrow, and as you know this course is very tough. I think I have to be really calm, and try to create opportunities for myself. I believe that I’m gonna make a great result.”

Korean Younghan Song is a shot further back, following a 69, along with Japan’s Kazuki Higa, in with a 67.

Song, who is a member of both the Korean and Japan Tours, has surprisingly yet to win on home soil since turning professional 12 years ago.

He’s best-known for his victory in the Singapore Open in 2016, when he defeated American Jordan Spieth, who at the time was ranked number one in the world, by one shot following a Monday finish. He is a two winner in Japan having claimed the Sansan KBC Augusta in 2023, while the Singapore Open was joint sanctioned with Japan when he won.

Despite his lack of titles in Korea he has been a regular contender as looks like being the case this week.

He said: “Actually, I’m not really happy about my performance today, but definitely I want to win this tournament. I think some of my putts were not great, but I think I finished quite well so I should be well prepared for the next round.

“You know, this course is very challenging, especially with the wind and the rain. I think the conditions will be very difficult over next few days.”

Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent, the Asian Tour Order of Merit leader, returned a 67 and is next best placed in a group of players that includes Thailand’s Danthai Boonma, the joint first-round leader – who shot a 71, and Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho after a 69.