Consistent Moon on threshold of big win at Shinhan Donghae Open
Korean Kyongjun Moon, who has not missed a cut in two years in Korea but not won in five seasons, maintained his lead at the Shinhan Donghae Open today.
Despite a poor back nine in the third round at Bear’s Best Cheongna Golf Club, in Incheon, he held on for a one-shot advantage over in-form compatriot Hanbyeol Kim.
Moon started the day with a four-shot lead and after making a brilliant birdie on the long par-four 10th, he appeared to be in control – in one of Korea’s most prestigious events.
Hanbyeol Kim of Korea
Moon carded a two-over-par 73, for a tournament total of 11-under-par 202, while Kim fired a 66.
Korean Yoseop Seo is a stroke further back, after shooting 70.
Two of Korea’s most successful golfers Seungyul Noh and Jeunghun Wang are among five players tied for fourth, just three off the lead.
Former Asian Tour Order of Merit winner Noh, tied for second at the start of the day, came in with a 72 while Wang shot 71.
Canada’s Richard T. Lee, winner of the Shinhan Donghae Open in 2017, is tied for ninth on seven under.
Kyongjun Moon of Korea
With 18 players within five shots of the lead, Moon will have his work cut out in the final round.
His last victory came in 2015 at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open, while he was second in this event in 2014 – behind Korean Sangmoon Bae.
“Looking back on the third round, the score was not good, but I think I will play better in the final round. I think the holes where the game will be decided are on the second half, holes 16, 17 and 18,”said Moon, who complained he missed too many three to four footers.
“The pin positions were more difficult today. As a result, I was thinking too much. I was nervous, too. My shots were still good and my putts were pretty good, but I just didn’t do well today. And it rained so the green speed slowed down and I misread some putts,” added Moon.
“Hanbyeol Kim has been good since he was an amateur and won the last tournament, so he is at his best. Yoseop Seo is a big hitter and an aggressive player. I’m looking forward to it.”
The 38-year-old is a big believer in meditation – something he used to overcome a panic disorder condition early on in his career.
He was actually paired with Hanbyeol Kim in the final group of the Hedges Golf KPGA Open, but finished in a tie for ninth.
Korean Y.E. Yang, winner of the 2009 US PGA Championship – where he became the first Asian to win a Major – returned a 74 and is in a tie for 42nd on one under.
Jeunghun Wang of Korea
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Korean Kyongjun Moon opened up a four-stroke lead at the halfway point of the Shinhan Donghae Open today – helped by a sensational eagle on the par-four 15th, where he holed his approach from 85 yards.
He added a six-under-par 65 to his opening 64 for an impressive total of 13 under at Bear’s Best Cheongna Golf Club in Incheon.
Koreans Seungyul Noh and Minkyu Kim are in second after returning rounds of 69 and 68 respectively.
First round leader, Jaehan Chun from Korea, fell back with a 75 and is nine behind the leader.
Moon has been in sublime form over the first two days, making two eagles, 10 birdies and dropping just one shot. He birdied four out of the first five holes on the front nine today for the perfect start.
Kyongjun Moon of Korea
Of his eagle on 15 he said: “I had a bad stance over that shot and the wind was coming in across from the opposite side. I hit a draw, it took a spin and eventually found the hole. It was a really great feeling.”
“The greens were in great condition, so I was able to trust my putting stroke. With an eagle and five birdies, it certainly was a satisfactory day,” added the 38-year-old.
Moon finished second in this event in 2014 – behind countryman Sangmoon Bae – and hit the headlines the following year when he won the GS Caltex Maekyung Open, which remains his sole Tour victory to date.
Considered something of a late bloomer, he overcame a panic disorder condition – that threatened his career – to bravely win the Maekyung event.
Impressively, has not missed a cut in Korea since the 2018 KJ Choi Invitational – making it through to the weekend 25 consecutive times.
Noh, once the golden boy of Korean golf having won on the Asian Tour, PGA Tour and European Tour, fired five birdies and three bogeys to stay in contention.
The 2010 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion is looking for his first win since the 2014 Zurich Classic of New Orleans on the PGA Tour.
Seungyul Noh of Korea
Jeunghun Wang, another of the country’s fine young players and three-time winner on the European Tour, carded his second 67 and is a stroke further back in a group with three other players.
Y.E. Yang, who became a national hero in Korea when he won the 2009 US PGA Championship, signed for a 66 but is nine off the lead.
Boasting prizemoney of KRW1.4b (approximately US$1.2m), the Shinhan Donghae Open is one of the most prestigious events on the Korean golf calendar.
Click here for Round 2 leaderboard.
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Korean Jaehan Chun owns his own brand of golf apparel called 45G – which is the weight of a golf ball – and came up with the perfect way to market that today at the Shinhan Donghae Open by taking the first round lead with a scintillating eight-under-par 63.
The bogey-free round at Bear’s Best Cheongna Golf Club in Incheon was made even more impressive by the fact it is the first time he has played in the tournament – one of the most prestigious events in Korea, boasting prizemoney of KRW1.4b (approximately US$1.2m).
Former Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Seungyul Noh from Korea came in with a 64 to sit in second place with countryman Kyongjun Moon.
“The course suits me well,” said Chun.
“My tee shots and putting were great today. The greens were very soft so it was important to find the putting surface safely in the right position.”
Although playing his rookie season in Korea he does have an impressive background.
The 30-year-old is a former amateur star and played college golf at Northwestern University in Chicago. And, in 2009 he finished second in the inaugural Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship – behind compatriot Changwon Han.
“My previous name is Eric Chun but now I am change my name to Jaehan Chun as I want more Korean fans to cheer for me,” he joked.
A much-travelled golfer, he moved to Malaysia when he was four and lived there for 10 years before moving to Australia. He played on the Japan Golf Tour and its secondary circuit the AbemaTV Tour last year, having completed National Service in Korea in 2016.
Of his line of golf clothing, he said: “I want to bring a different dimension to golf wear.”
Noh, who won the Asian Tour Order of Merit in 2010, is in search of his first win since claiming the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on the PGA Tour in 2014.
“Now I`m in bad condition as I recently sprained my ankle. But it is okay. Today was a very hard day as the wind was strong. But I’m satisfied with the score of seven under. My short game was great,” said 29-year-old Noh, two-time winner on the Asian Tour.
“My tee-time tomorrow is early morning so I think, at that time, the wind will blow less, so I can try and make many birdies.”
Korean star KT Kim, a 14-time winner in Japan, shot a 71 while fellow Korean YE Yang, the 2009 US PGA Championship winner, came in with a 72.
Click here for Round 1 leaderboard.
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The R&A has awarded the Singapore club a Golf Sustainability Fund Grant that will further boost its environmental credentials.
Sentosa Golf Club is set to install two digesters that will make it the first club in Asia with the ability to grind down food and horticultural waste to reuse as fertiliser on the golf course.
Using a Golf Sustainability Fund Grant awarded by The R&A, the Singapore-based club set on Sentosa Island will reuse 40kg of food waste generated each day along with the one tonne of horticultural waste produced every month.
The grant is part of a project that will also help bring sustainable organic waste management practices to golf courses in Asia with Sentosa Golf Club estimating cost savings of up to 30% on monthly waste disposal over a one-year period.
It also comes shortly after Sentosa Golf Club was announced as the world’s first golf club to sign the UN’s Sports for Climate Action Initiative.
Embarking on a two-stage process, the first will see Sentosa using a food waste bio-digester to process and grind down waste from its three F&B outlets on site. Once microbes are added to the waste it is ready for use as organic fertiliser on the golf courses, SMBC Singapore Open venue, The Serapong, and The New Tanjong, which hosts the HSBC Women’s World Championship and was also the chosen venue for the 10th edition of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) and the inaugural Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) in 2018.
The second stage of the project will introduce a heavy duty woodchipper and bio-digester shredder to grind an estimated one tonne of horticulture waste that is generated per month at the club. The club does not currently purchase and apply compost material on the golf course, but foresees that a suitable compost by-product can be derived from this project and used to improve the golf course, including the retention of vital moisture across the fairways, thereby reducing the need for irrigation.
Andrew Johnston, Director of Agronomy and General Manager at Sentosa Golf Club, said: “It is very humbling for Sentosa Golf Club to be chosen by The R&A to be part of its Golf Sustainability Fund. Personally, I’m very proud of what the club has achieved in recent years with its environmental efforts. The entire team at the club can be recognised for their hard work and dedication towards creating an environmentally sustainable environment – it has become a way of life at the club.
“This grant will help us go a long way towards further achieving our goals and the waste recycling project along with all the other initiatives we have implemented here at the club, will hopefully inspire other clubs around the world to play their part in becoming more sustainable.”
On the importance of such an initiative, Johnston added: “Most horticultural and golf course waste is currently disposed through the process of waste incineration or burial administered by the local authorities. This adds to air pollution and applies pressure to landfill sites, which is particularly pertinent to land-starved Singapore.”
Both The R&A and leadership team at Sentosa Golf Club envision achieving a major leap in golf course specific waste recycling and fertiliser use across the fairways of courses all over the world along with a major change in the consideration of how golf clubs approach their waste management strategies. The club’s initiative will also help with the research and development of bi-product fertilisers that can be used on primary roughs and fairways and shared with other golf clubs in Asia and around the world.
Dominic Wall, Director – Asia-Pacific at the R&A, said: “Sentosa Golf Club has introduced many environmental-friendly golf course practices over the last few years and The R&A is excited to work with them on this project, not only to allow them to further a more sustainable environment at the club, but also to provide the vital research needed for other clubs in Asia and around the world to use as best practice.”
Chris Gray, Head of Sustainability and Agronomy – Asia-Pacific at The R&A, added: “The R&A is extremely pleased to be able to work closely with Sentosa Golf Club through our sustainability fund and help them continue to raise the bar and act as a model for other golf clubs around the world to follow in terms of environmental sustainability.”
Sentosa Golf Club’s green agenda was initially brought to the attention of the golfing world with the launch of its #KeepItGreen campaign at the SMBC Singapore Open in January 2018. It saw a number of key environmental features implemented at the club, such as the creation of their own Bee colonies; using rechargeable lithium batteries in their golf carts; banning single use plastics from the golf course and replacing them with water stations; as well as installing electric vehicle charging sockets and building their own sustainable herb garden.
The club also unveiled a new global campaign, GAME ON, at the start of the year, which is designed to unite the global golf community in addressing the growing concerns of climate change. The aim is to educate and inspire the global golfing community, helping golf clubs around the world to better prepare by introducing modern sustainability practices to reduce their environmental impact.
The campaign is closely aligned with The R&A’s 2030 Golf Course Initiative that considers the impacts, both positive and negative, of the changing climate, resource constraints and regulation on course condition and playability. The R&A has also recently pledged their support of the GAME ON initiative.
For more information on Sentosa Golf Club, visit www.sentosagolf.com.
Photo credit: KPGA
The 36th edition of the Shinhan Donghae Open will feature the cream of Korean golf when it gets underway at the highly rated Bear’s Best Cheongna Golf Club in Incheon for the fifth consecutive year starting Thursday.
Major champion Y.E. Yang, K.T. Kim, Sanghyun Park, Jeunghun Wang, Hosung Choi and former Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Seungyul Noh will spearhead the 138-man field in the event, which is offering an increased prize purse of KRW1.4b (approximately US$1.2m) this week.
The Shinhan Donghae Open, which has been held annually in the Land of Morning Calm since 1981, will have to be played behind closed doors for the first time in history this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Sanghyun Park of Korea
“I will miss the cheers of the gallery,” said Park, who won the event two years ago.
“But it’s great we are playing and it will be a very competitive week, as there are so many young Korean stars now.”
“We will just have to adapt to having no galleries,” added Taehee Lee, who successfully defended his Maekyung Open on home soil last month.
The Korean PGA Tour has staged six events since July – when strict lockdown measures, due to the coronavirus pandemic, were lifted.
“This week is mainly for Koreans because of Covid-19 so we will most likely see a domestic winner and it is a good opportunity for me to produce a good performance,” said Noh.
There is not a lot Kim, a 14-time winner in Japan, has not achieved in the game, but he has yet to win the Shinhan Donghae Open.
K.T. Kim of Korea
He said: “Although we are missing a lot of talented foreign players, I think it will be a very competitive competition. I haven’t done well here so far but I’ll try to break the jinx.”
South African Jbe Kruger triumphed last year to add his name to the illustrious list of names inscribed on the trophy, which includes: K.J. Choi (2007 and 2008), Charlie Wi (2001), Jeev Milkha Singh (1994) and Paul Casey (2011).
The Shinhan Donghae Open was jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the KPGA in 2016 before becoming the first event in Korea to be tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, KPGA and Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO) in 2019.
Like previous years, the storied event will be broadcasted to the Asian Tour’s international audience via the Asian Tour Media platform.
Click here for Live scoring and Tee times.
American John Catlin claimed his maiden European Tour title at the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters after overcoming two-time Major Champion Martin Kaymer in a thrilling battle for a one-stroke victory at the famous Real Club Valderrama.
Catlin, a four-time Asian Tour winner, showed nerves of steel as he fended off the challenge of his playing partner, the former World Number One from Germany, down the stretch and a four-over-75 was enough for a two-over-286 winning total.
SOTOGRANDE, SPAIN – SEPTEMBER 06: John Catlin of The United States reacts after putting on the 18th green during day four of the Estrella Damm N. A. Andalucia Masters golf tournament at Real Club Valderrama on September 06, 2020 in Sotogrande, Spain. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
Catlin had started the day two shots clear at the top but bogeys at the fifth, 10th, 12th and 14th meant Kaymer – who birdied at the second, fourth and 12th – pulled level to set up a dramatic finale at the Sotogrande venue.
Kaymer missed a golden opportunity to take the lead at the 17th, missing a six-foot birdie putt, and Catlin kept his composure with a delightful lag putt at the final hole to two feet. Kaymer had to hole his chip from the edge of the green to keep his chances alive and he almost did just that, but his bogey meant Catlin would seal the wire-to-wire victory with a tap-in par.
“I think it’s still setting in, the nerves were going nuts the whole of the final round. It’s a very difficult golf course, the greens are firm and fast and the wind was no easier than it has been the previous three days.
“I don’t think it’s quite sunk in but that was my goal at the start of 2019, is to win on the European Tour so to have actually accomplished that is pretty hard to put into words right now,” said the 29-year-old Catlin.
SOTOGRANDE, SPAIN – SEPTEMBER 06: John Catlin of The United States tees off on the 8th hole during day four of the Estrella Damm N. A. Andalucia Masters golf tournament at Real Club Valderrama on September 06, 2020 in Sotogrande, Spain. (Photo by Luke Walker/Getty Images)
“It’s very difficult, the hardest part was hitting the fairways. The wind is cross-breeze on most of them, down right to left or down from left to right, into left to right so if you get any kind of wrong spin going you can end up in the rough and the greens are just getting firmer and firmer.
“So fairways are a must, and I managed to make the fairway on 18 and that might have been the difference,” he added.
Catlin also said that his past experience on the Asian Tour stood him in good stead in the closing stages.
After coming through the Asian Tour Qualifying School in 2015, he claimed an Asian Development Tour title each in 2016 and 2017 and went on to win three times on the Asian Tour in 2018. His fourth Asian Tour victory came at the Thailand Open last November.
“My past experience was very helpful in that regard, I knew I had done it before.
“Even when things were not quite going my way in the early part of that back nine, I knew if I just stayed patient and kept going, I would give myself a chance.”
South African Justin Harding battled to a second straight 71 to settle two shots back in a share of third place while Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura finished in tied-eighth place on 291. American Johannes Veerman came in a further shot back and ensured a top-10 finish after closing with a 74.
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If you need a prominent figure in Asian golf – and a multiple Tour winner with an exemplary record in the amateur game – to testify about the mercurial nature of the game of golf, then look no further than Shiv Kapur.
The popular Indian star produced three brilliant victories in 2017 but only after his most traumatic season since turning professional in 2004.
Kapur’s tale is one of a 360-degree turn-around in fortunes.
Fortunately, and one of the reasons why he is such a fitting spokesperson and case study on the matter of golf’s unevenness, Kapur is able to discuss it eloquently and with insight.
In 2016, the Indian was in big trouble.
“When I lost my card on the European Tour in 2016, it was one thing after the other,” he says.
“I was injured, I had a liver surgery that year, which took me a few months to recover from, and I lost my status in Europe. Right after that I had the birth of my daughter, followed that up a few weeks later with dengue fever – so I had a lot of good things off the course but from my health perspective I went through this really turbulent period of eight to nine months, almost a year, where my body just wasn’t where it needed to be – going through surgery and then dengue fever. When I came back I lost a lot of speed in my swing, I lost a lot of distance off the tee – it was a rebuilding process.”
The liver surgery was the result of a liver abscess which went undiagnosed for a while before it flared up and started to affect other organs. He was in a hotel in Bulgaria went it first surfaced and he woke up with a fever of 105 degrees F. The doctors there could not figure out what it was so he got on a plane, flew home, and went straight into hospital. He had to have surgery and was in hospital for almost two weeks, followed by bed rest for a month after that.
“It was not fun at all,” he says.
And it was not long after that that he got a bout of dengue fever, because his body was so weak.
So while thrilled by the birth of his first child, Veda, he was in the middle of the most difficult period of his career.
And although he made a full recovery from the illnesses, the ensuing season did not start well and there were question marks about his future.
He says: “For the first three months of 2017 I was almost at the stage where I felt I wasn’t ready to compete. I felt like I didn’t know what to do. I just needed to take time off to get everything in shape.”
So what transpired next, and indeed why it happened, is both truly magnificent and mystical.
In April he claimed the Yeangder Heritage tournament in Chinese Taipei; the following month he finished second in the Thailand Open; in November he triumphed in the Panasonic Open India – at Delhi Golf Club, his home club; and in December his was victorious in Thailand at the Royal Cup.
“It is funny how this game works, when you least expect things and you drop your expectations,” says Kapur.
“Finally that win came in Chinese Taipei. It had been four years since my last victory and to finally get that win gave me the belief back and reignited a fire in me. In spite of all that I had been through I was in a very good place off the course, married, had a little daughter and I guess having a daughter was that added inspiration as you are playing for something more than yourself. And it worked.
“Form is an amazing thing, I don’t think I did anything differently. I was putting a lot of effort in with my coach at the time because when I came back, I felt like I had taken a huge step back physically. And the confidence of that win carried over into the rest of the season.”
And from being out in the golfing wilderness, he suddenly felt that every time he put himself in contention he was really comfortable and all the nerves that were there in the past, and meant he couldn’t close out, went away.
“I wouldn’t say there was a perfect formula as such but it is just one of those seasons when things clicked. If you look back at pictures of me then and now, I was much heavier as I was suffering through all of these things in my body. I was able to overcome that.”
While he was unable to match that season in 2018 and 2019 he has been a regular contender and been close to victory several times – including losing in a sudden-death play-off at last year’s Thailand Open.
“Post 2017, I got into that thing where you have won three times so expectations go up and you try and replicate a season which realistically, a three win season, is not the bar, it is something that comes along every now and then, it is an exceptional season,” says Kapur.
Importantly, the new found form and success in Asia brought Kapur a very clear direction on where he wants to play.
He says: “I didn’t get a medical exemption from the European Tour which proved a blessing as it made me play in Asia and made me realize how much I love playing on the Asian Tour.”
Now based in Dubai, Kapur is one of the players on the Asian Tour’s Board of Directors.
Earlier this year, he flew to New Delhi to compete in the Hero Indian Open in March only to see the event cancelled because of COVID-19.
“I never thought I would spend the last half five months in India. India had one of the harshest and strictest lockdowns when you weren’t even allowed to step outside your house,” he says.
“Initially I had gone up to the hills, on a little vacation with the family. And to me the first couple of months were amazing because it was something I had always craved for. I have a young daughter so to be able to spend that time with her and play dad and do the things that you miss most on Tour, that was a novelty for me. I never really got that time to spend with her growing up. This was fantastic but I have to be honest after a couple of months into it you start to get a bit edgy,” adds Kapur.
“In our lives you are not used to being in one place for so long. If felt like an off season, kind of a blessing in disguise, hitting the reset button, time to reassess some goals, see where you stand, looking at what the path forward is.”
Two weeks ago he was finally able to play in a tournament and competed in the ISPS Handa Wales Open. He failed to make it through to the weekend but cherished the opportunity to compete.
“My first week out after six months was in 70km an hour winds, we had two or three wind delays, five degree weather, playing in rain and wind, it was a baptism of fire,” he says
He is hoping to play in the European Tour event in Portugal in two weeks and as he says: “We have spoken internally at the Asian Tour and we are hoping to start in the not too distant future.”
At the age of 38 he feels he has about another five years of playing on Tour left in him and is aiming to qualify for next year’s Olympics so that he can add an Olympic medal to the gold medal he won in the Asian Games in Korea in 2002.
He wants to play in more Majors and would dearly love to win the Asian Tour Order of Merit title, having come close several times.
“To be Asian number one is a goal I want to accomplish before I hang up my boots,” he says.
It is all highly possible considering what happened during a miraculous 2017.
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Angelo Que’s golf game is ready to roll, thanks to his “tennis” injury being fixed – although unfortunately, at the moment, playing time is limited.
Held up at home in Manila since March because of coronavirus pandemic restrictions, he has endured two lengthy stints of lockdown with no golf; three months from March onwards, and then last month as well.
As with all of the Asian Tour’s top golfers it has been a test of character but there has been a silver lining.
“I have actually enjoyed the rest because before the lockdown and before the end of last year, I had tennis elbow,” says Que.
“It sort of affected the way I played, and at that time I was unable to take the time needed to rest, because there were tournaments to be played and during the Christmas break, we only had two weeks off before we started playing again.
“So the rest has been a big help for my elbow but it is also frustrating because now that I don’t feel pain I want to play, but there are no tournaments.”
Angelo Que at the season-opening Hong Kong Open held at the Fanling Golf Club in Hong Kong from January 9-12, 2020. Picture by Paul Lakatos / Asian Tour.
Que’s last tournament was the Bandar Malaysia Open in March, where he tied for 31st despite the issue with his elbow.
“Pretty much everyday things caused it [the tennis elbow]. Carrying suit cases, playing a lot of golf. When I had it checked, there was no tear or big injury, it was just normal tennis elbow.
“But tennis elbow doesn’t heal as much as other injuries. It takes months and even if you work on it, it still takes months. You have to strengthen it, I have done a lot of research on it. I was surprised, I thought when it heals it’s done but no! It actually takes months to heal, sometimes years. It doesn’t go away sometimes. So the break was actually a good thing for my elbow.”
He says the local Tour is trying to put together a series of events starting in October. They are aiming to stage six events in a row with players, men and women, being kept in a bubble throughout.
As well as that he is hoping he will be able to play in Japan later in the year if the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO) are able to host three or four events in a row, so he could justify the quarantine protocols.
“After the Bandar Malaysia Open in March, the next round that I played was in June. But I am sort of used to not playing that much, especially when I am home for a month, but three months is a bit long. I felt a bit stiff, everything was a bit rusty when I started playing again.
“And then we sort of had another lockdown this month and I have not played since June actually, that’s another two months,” said Que, who has scheduled a practice round this week.
“I am trying to keep busy,” says the 41-year-old.
“Helping the kids with school work, doing groceries and trying to get some rounds in at the same time. The situation back then wasn’t as bad. It was hard to get used to it in the beginning, being in lockdown, not being able to go out, and we couldn’t play golf.
“Right now it’s got better, you can go out and play golf. You can go out and do some groceries and the lines are not so long. Except the new protocol is you have to wear masks, you have to wear face shields.”
His most recent victory was a breakthrough win in Japan two years ago at the TOP Cup Tokai Classic – where Korean Y.E. Yang finished runner-up.
“Winning in Japan, and at my age, is surreal. It is hard to keep up with the young ones right now. You look at the age of the guys dominating on the Tour now, they are in the mid-20s to early 30s, so to keep up with those guys, it is a big deal for me.
“I have been playing in Asia for 18 years, and I have played Japan for six years, so age is a big factor right now. So that win in Japan was very big, especially going against Y.E. Yang. As everybody knows, I love to eat, and the food is great there, and that is why I gained a little bit of weight. I just love the food. If I don’t play well at least I have something to look forward to.”
The Asian Tour, and the JGTO, await to see what a free-swinging and injury-free Que can do when tournaments are up and running once more.
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August 24: Korea’s Taehee Lee became the first player to successfully defend his title in the 39-year history of the GS Caltex Maekyung Open when he closed with a second straight three-under-par 67 to win by one shot at the Elysian Gangchon Country Club on Sunday.
Lee, who claimed his Asian Tour breakthrough at the Maekyung Open last May, returned to a new venue for his title defence and successfully retained the trophy with a winning total of 11-under-par 199 in the 54-hole event for his fourth title on his domestic Tour.
The 36-year-old got off to a fast start with three straight birdies in his opening four holes but slipped back with four bogeys against two birdies in his next 10 holes. He bounced back with back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16 and eventually won after leader Minkyu Cho stumbled with a bogey-bogey finish.
Lee, who finished in a commendable third place on the 2019 Asian Tour Order of Merit, takes home a prize purse of US$134,442 and receives four Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points following his victory to break into the world’s top-500.
Over at the ISPS HANDA Wales Open on the European Tour, Malaysia’s Gavin Green continued his fine form to notch a top-10 finish at The Celtic Manor Resort located in the City of Newport, Wales.
Green, the 2017 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion, closed with a two-under-par 69 and a three-under-par 281 total to finish five back of winner Romain Langasque of France, marking his second top-10 finish on the European Tour this season.
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