Seoul, Korea: Two early eagles propelled Lee Sang-hee to victory in OneAsia’s US$900,000 GS Caltex Maekyung Open as the Korean maintained his country’s stranglehold on the prestigious title.
Lee shot a final round 68, featuring two eagle-threes on the front nine, as he came from three shots behind overnight leader Phachara Khongwatmai of Thailand to beat 2015 champion Moon Kyong-jun (68) by two strokes at Namseoul Country Club.
Phachara, who was bidding to become the youngest winner on OneAsia at age 18 and the first non-Korean to win the title since American Mark Calcavecchia was victorious in 2004, double-bogeyed the final hole for a disappointing five over 76.
The highly-rated Thai, runner-up in the SMBC Singapore Open and the ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth this year, finished in joint sixth spot, five shots behind Lee’s winning score of eight-under 276.
Defending champion Park Sang-hyun (73), Park Hyo-won (72) and Kim Seung-hyuk (66) placed joint third, four strokes adrift of 25-year-old Lee.
Lee, the world number 479 who won the SK Telecom Open on home soil last year and has a string of top-five finishes on the Japan Tour to his credit since joining the circuit in 2013, held a one-shot lead over Phachara and Moon at the turn thanks to an eagle at the ninth hole.
It was his second eagle on a topsy-turvy front nine that also included two birdies and three bogeys.
Phachara, the youngest ever winner of a professional event at age 14, made a nervy start with back-to-back bogeys but he clawed back the shots with birdies at the third and fourth. However, he slipped up again at the eighth with a bogey.
Moon, OneAsia’s number one in 2015, shot four birdies on the front nine, including three-in-a-row from the seventh to draw level with Phachara, who had started the day five ahead of him.
Lee played steady golf at the start of the back nine with five straight pars before a birdie at the 15th and suddenly found himself three shots clear as Moon carded two bogeys against one birdie and Phachara shot three bogeys and two birdies.
The leader dropped a shot at the 17th but a par on the last sealed the biggest win of his career.
The 36th edition of the GS Caltex Maekyung Open was the second tournament on the 2017 OneAsia schedule after last week’s Volvo China Open. The next event is the Kolon Korea Open from June 1-4.