By Olle Nordberg, Former Asian Tour and European Tour professional

The Tournament

The Shinhan Donghae Open has been played since 1981 and part of the Asian Tour schedule since 2016 when it was first co-sanctioned by Asian Tour and Korean PGA Tour (KPGA). This is the first year that Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO) is also a sanctioning partner in the now tri-sanctioned event.

It is considered one of the Korean Majors and has been won by many of Korea’s best players such as Sangho Choi (3), KJ Choi (2), Sangmoon Bae (2) and Byeonghun An, and also international stars such as Paul Casey who won the title in 2011.

Last year, the title was won by Sanghyun Park who fired a tournament low round of eight-under-par 63 on Sunday, a round that was highlighted by six birdies on the front-nine, to beat runner-up Scott Vincent by five shots.

The purse this year is KRW 1,200,000,000 or approximately US$990,000, while the first prize is KRW 216,000,000 or approximately US$178,000.

The Course

Designed by the legendary Jack Nicklaus, Bear’s Best Cheongna golf Club on the outskirts of Seoul is a Par-71 playing to 7,238 yards from the championship tees and has hosted the tournament since 2015.

In 2018 the front-nine played as the easiest nine, 0.32-under-par, compared to 0.28-over-par for the back nine.

The most difficult holes on the course were numbers 10 (+0.32) and 16 (-0.21), while holes two (-0.49) and six (-0.21) were the easiest.

Top Contenders

Sanghyun Park

Defending champion Park should definitely be considered as one of the favorites, as he is currently in fine form.

Park won the Fujisankei Classic two weeks ago on the Japan Golf Tour, and has also posted top-10s in the Shigeo Nagashima Invitational SEGASAMMY Cup where he finished ninth and the Gate Way to The Open Mizuno Open where he finished tied-third.

That last event qualified him for The Open at Royal Portrush where Park finished in a creditable tied-16^th place, his career best finish in a Major.

Jazz Janewattanaond

Current Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Jazz’s record this year speaks for itself and he remains a top contender in every tournament he plays in my book.

Winning the Japan Tour co-sanctioned season opener in Singapore, Jazz has continued the season on a torrid pace by also winning the Kolon Korea Open in June and has so far racked up two wins and 11 top-10s in all events played.

He also had an unforgettable week at the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black where he finished tied-14^th after being in tied-second place after 54-holes.

Scott Vincent

Zimbabwean Vincent has come close to winning the Shinhan Donghae Open every time he has teed up at this event. He has never finished outside the top-three in the past three editions.

His closest call coming in 2016 when he finished tied-second just one stroke behind Gaganjeet Bhullar, but he was also second to Sanghyun Park last year and tied-third in 2017.

Having won his first professional event this year on the AbemaTV Tour in Japan, Vincent has also posted top-10s in six other events this season. He is due for a breakthrough victory on the Asian Tour, and he obviously likes this course.

Yosuke Asaji

Having won his first professional title at the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup in May, which qualified the Asaji for The Open at Royal Portrush, he did not have to wait long for his second career victory.

In last week’s ANA Open Asaji closed with a final round  65 to join a five-man play-off and emerged victorious after making a three-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole.

Having just won a tournament last week, Asaji will likely be in great form. However, this will be his first time playing this course which may be a disadvantage compared to the other favorites mentioned above.

Gurgaon, India, September 15: Rory Hie became the first Indonesian to win on the Asian Tour after he carded a flawless four-under-par 68 to win the inaugural Classic Golf and Country Club International Championship by two shots on Sunday.

Hie, who has never lost the lead since the first round, was determined to seal his maiden win and demonstrated that resolve with an opening birdie on the first hole.

Despite playing under intense pressure from the chasing pack, the 31-year-old maintained his composure by marking his card with 11 straight pars before a hat-trick of birdies from the 13^th hole confirmed his place in the winner’s circle.

Hie paid an emotional tribute to the late Arie Irwan, who passed away in April as he knew his close friend was watching over him when he signed off with a winning total of 21-under-par 267 at the Classic Golf and Country Club.

Korea’s Byungjun Kim tried to surmount a charge, going even a shot clear of Hie after making his fourth birdie of the day on the par-four 12^th.

However, that birdie would be the last he was able to make as he closed out his last six holes with straight pars to finish in a share of second place with India’s Rashid Khan on 269 total.

Did you know?

• Rory Hie is the first Indonesian to win a title on the Asian Tour, and he did so in sterling fashion by winning wire-to-wire.
• The 31-year-old Hie’s previous best Asian Tour finish came in the 2017 TAKE Solutions Masters in Bangalore where he finished tied-fourth.
• His best finish in 2019 had been a tied-fifth at the OB Golf Invitational on the Asian Development Tour (ADT). He was poised for a top-10 finish at the Bank BRI Indonesia Open two weeks ago being tied-fourth after 54 holes, but a final round 74 dropped Hie to tied-22nd.
• After earning First Team All American golf honors at Cerritos High in California, Hie played college golf as a freshman and sophomore at University of Southern California 2006-2008 before turning pro in 2009.
• Hie was ranked as high as sixth as an amateur before he turned professional.
• In his four Asian Tour events played in 2019, Byungjun Kim’s best result has been a tied-33rd at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open.
• The Korean is currently playing on a Country Exemption spot and has limited access to events on the schedule.
• The 37-year-old Kim has had eight career top-10 finishes on the Korean PGA Tour (KPGA), including a win at the Daishin Securities KPGA Championship in 2011.
• This top-five finish will give Kim an exemption into next month’s Mercuries Taiwan Masters, an event he otherwise would not be able to play.
• Having lost his card in 2018, this tied-second place finish has secured Rashid Khan’s Asian Tour playing rights for the 2020 season.
• Rashid Khan won twice on the Asian Tour in 2014, the Chiangmai Golf Classic and the SAIL-SBI Open, on his way to a career best 11th on the Order of Merit with US$243,600 in earnings.
• Between 2013-2017 Khan never finished lower than 42nd on the Order of Merit and has career earnings of almost US$860,000.