Asian Tour Book 2024

MINKYU MEANS BUSINESS AGAIN AFTER INJURY SCARE SECOND KOLON KOREA OPEN TITLE IN THREE YEARS W hen local hero Minkyu Kim won the 2022 Kolon Korea Open presented by ELORD following two wins on the EuroPro Tour and one on the Challenge Tour in his first two years as a professional there seemed to be no stopping the phenom. However, on the eve of the inaugural International Series Korea at Jeju Island in August 2022, not long after winning his National Open, Kim was involved in a car accident that was serious enough to prevent him from touching his clubs for almost two months. When he returned to the golf course towards the end of the year, he struggled to pick up where he left off. The 23-year-old showed that the dark days were behind him though when he marched to a three-shot win at the Kolon Korea Open presented by ELORD, shooting a final-round five-under-par 66 at the challenging Woo Jeong Hills Country Club for an 11-under-par total. It was Kim’s second win in less than a month following his Descente Korea Munsingwear Matchplay triumph on the Korean PGA Tour in the first week of June. The win at Woo Jeong Hills secured him a place at the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon – where he’d impressively finish tied 31st in tough playing conditions. Compatriot Younghan Song, who started the final round with a one-shot lead, carded a 71 to finish in second place, while the promising Yubin Jang (65) and veteran Kyungnam Kang (71) completed a clean sweep of the podium for the host country by finishing tied for third on seven- under-par aggregate. The Philippines’ Miguel Tabuena (67) was the best placed among the foreign players, in solo fifth a stroke further behind. Kim started his campaign with a round that included three birdies and two bogeys on Thursday, but two subsequent 66s on Friday and Sunday – the second- lowest round of the tournament – were good enough to lift him to the top of the Minkyu Kim [left and right] became the 12th player to win his National Open more than once. 62 KOLON KOR E A OPEN PR E SEN T ED BY ELORD WOO J EON G H I L L S CO U N T RY C L U B J U N E 2 0 - 2 3 | P R I Z E MON E Y: K RW 1 , 4 0 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 ( A P P ROX I MAT E LY U S $ 9 8 0 , 0 0 0 )