Cho shows his quality with breakthrough victory on Asian Tour
Two years after being part of the Korean team that famously claimed the gold medal at the Asian Games, Wooyoung Cho [main picture] has become a winner on the Asian Tour for the first time after triumphing at the Philippine Golf Championship presented by Philippine Sports Commission today.
He registered a hard-fought victory following stiff resistance from Pavit Tangkamolprasert, beating the Thai by four shots on the unforgiving East Course at Wack Wack Golf & Country Club, in Manila.
Cho, two behind overnight leader Karandeep Kochhar from India at the start of the day, fired a final round five-under-par 67, for a four-round total of 11-under – in the opening event of the season on the Asian Tour.
He and Pavit played together in the second from last group and made it a two-horse race for much of the day.
The 24-year-old Korean dropped his only shot of the day on the opening hole but took the lead with birdies on two and three. He was never caught but Pavit made him work hard until the very end.
Wooyoung Cho.
Cho made crucial par saves on 11 and 12 and led by two with two to play but both front-runners missed the green on the challenging par-three 17th. Pavit then hit a brilliant bunker shot up to six feet to give himself a fighting chance, but he missed his par putt while Cho holed his from a slightly shorter distance. Soon after, the Korean finished in style with a birdie on the par-four 18th.
“It feels very amazing,” said Cho, who turned professional immediately after winning Asian Games gold.
“This is my first event in 2026. I started off the season very well and I really enjoyed it.
“The most important thing in my game today were the saves on 11 and 12. On hole 11 I just wanted to make bogey, just an easy bogey, but I think it was lucky to make par. On hole number 12 I think it was very important to make par as well. That’s why I won this tournament.”
The par save on 17 was equally key to his victory.
He explained: “I just wanted to hit the green, but I missed it right. I didn’t care about Pavit’s ball, whether he’s on the green or not, whatever. I just wanted to save a par. That chip to the green was very, very good to make the par. So yeah, God bless.”
He earned a cheque for US$90,000 plus another US$10,000 for carding the lowest round of the day, which the club sponsored for each round.
His previous best finish on the Asian Tour was second place at the Bharath Classic toward the end of last year. He is also a two-time winner on the Korean PGA Tour, once in 2023 as an amateur and then in 2024 in his first full season as a member of the paid ranks.
Pavit Tangkamolprasert.
His team-mates in the Korean side that won the Asian Games were PGA Tour stars Siwoo Kim and Sungjae Im, plus Yubin Jang.
Pavit was trying to win an Asian Tour event for the first time since 2019.
He said: “I played my best today. I mean, hitting good irons, giving myself a chance. I hit it in the fairways, and I was hoping my putts would drop. But congrats to Wooyoung, he made some really, really important putts on the back nine. I was trying to get my momentum back, but yeah, I couldn’t do it.”
Australian Travis Smyth returned a 73 for third, six behind Cho, while Kochhar shot a 77 for fourth, two further adrift.
The Asian Tour ventures to the Southern Hemisphere next for the 105th New Zealand Open presented by Millbrook Resort.
The event, which has been part of the Asian Tour since 2018, will be played at Millbrook Golf Resort in Queenstown, from 26 February – 1 March.
Australian lefthander Ryan Peake will defend his title, in an event that boasts overall prizemoney of NZ$2million (approximately US$1.2million).
Travis Smyth.
Pictures by Graham Uden/Asian Tour.
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