Incheon, South Korea: Journeyman Kim Seung-hyuk birdied the last for a two-under-par 70 to win OneAsia’s SK Telecom Open by one shot from Lee Tae-hee (69) and Kim Kyung-tae (71) at Sky72 Golf Club, west of Seoul.
The 28-year-old Korean finished at 11-under-par around the 7,241-yard Ocean Course to claim his first professional title in a career that started in 2005.
Australian David Bransdon (69) also challenged down the stretch but had to settle for fourth place at nine-under, while star attraction KJ Choi (68) was a further stroke behind.
Kim banked US$195,000 from the one billion won (about US$1 million) purse and moves to the top of the Order of Merit. He is the third player to claim a career-first victory on OneAsia this season following Alexander Levy at last month’s Volvo China Open and Park Jun-won at last week’s GS Caltex Maekyung Open.
The lead changed hands several times in a gripping final round – at one point the top four were all tied at 10-under – on a day where there were birdies aplenty, but also bogeys lurking around every corner.
Sharing the overnight lead with multiple-winner Kim Kyung-tae, Kim Seung-hyuk looked to have blown his chance with a double-bogey at the fourth, but birdies at five and seven got him back in the mix.
“I didn’t panic after the double,” he said. “There was still a lot of holes to come, so I just tried to focus on my game.”
He got nervous at the 11th, however, when a glance at the leaderboard after another birdie showed the leaderboard logjam. “Now we were starting to run out of holes, but I told myself again that I just needed to worry about myself, not anyone else.”
One group ahead, Lee Tae-hee birdied 17 and just missed another on 18 to post a 10-under target, while playing partner Bransdon made amends for a dropped shot at 17 with a final-hole birdie to finish one behind.
Kim Kyung-tae fell away after dropping shots on 11 and 12, but back-to-back birdies on the next two – as well as a birdie and bogey on 16 and 17 – kept him in the hunt.
The Kims walked onto the 18th both needing a birdie for victory; Kyung-tae’s 20 footer slid agonisingly by, but Seung-hyuk’s nine-footer, seemingly running out of steam, found the cup.
“It was a fantastic feeling when it went in,” he said. “Now I know I can win a golf tournament, so I can set my sights on winning more.”