Veteran Park Sang-hyun (40, Dong-A Pharmaceutical) failed to win the first European tour event in his life, but kept the pride of the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) tour with impressive plays.
In the 4th round of the DP World Tour Korea Championship (total prize money of 2 million dollars) held at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea (par 72) in Incheon on the 30th, Park Sang-hyun tied 1 eagle, 3 birdies and 3 bogeys to hit 2 under par 70. Recording a final total of 9 under par 279, he tied for third place. The Korea Championship, newly established this year, is jointly organized by the KPGA and the DP World Tour, a European tour. The third place is the same as Park Sang-hyun’s best European Tour performance at the 2011 Valentine’s Championship. It is three strokes away from Pablo Larazabal (Spain, 12 under par), who won the championship.크크크벳
The seniority of the veteran who kept the lead for four days stood out. Park Sang-hyun, who started with a tie for second place by one stroke and challenged to win the come-from-behind match, exchanged a bogey with a birdie in the first half, and then wrote down a bogey in the 10th hole (par 4), and at one point widened the gap to the leader by four strokes. However, he changed the atmosphere with a birdie on the 12th hole (par 4) and created a famous scene with an exquisite shot eagle on the 14th hole (par 4). Park Sang-hyun, who sent his tee shot to the front of the green at this hole where one-on attempt was possible, put an approach shot with a 58-degree wedge into the hole with about 30m left, and jumped to a tie for second place by one shot. The spot where the ball was dropped, the spin, and the speed were so perfect that Richard Mansell (England), who was watching the ball on the green, raised his arms in anticipation of the eagle from about 10m in advance.
Park Sang-hyun, who swallowed regret after slightly missing birdie putts on holes 15 (par 5) and 16 (par 4), lost a stroke on the 17th hole (par 3), but scored 2 on the last hole 18 (par 5). After succeeding, he made a birdie with two putts to rise up the rankings.
Lara Sabal, who became the first champion, won her 8th win on the DP World Tour and received $340,000 in prize money (approximately 456 million won). Lara Sabal, 40 years old and the same age as Park Sang-hyun, avoided the danger of almost hitting a tee shot OB (Out of Bounds) to the right at the 15th hole, where he was leading by two strokes, and then shot his third shot 50cm from the hole and caught a birdie and ran with a three-stroke lead. I actually booked the championship.
Marcus Helikilde (Denmark) took second place (10 under par) by two strokes, and four players, including Park Sang-hyun, tied for third place. Kang Kyung-nam and Lee Jung-hwan tied for 10th place (7 under), and Bae Sang-moon, who won two wins on the PGA Tour, who participated in a domestic tournament after 1 year and 7 months, finished tied for 14th place (6 under par).