Reed Dominates at Hong Kong Golf Club
Posted on November 24, 2024
Hong Kong SAR, China: Patrick Reed stormed to a runaway victory in the US$2 million Link Hong Kong Open, registering his...
ASIAN GOLF INDUSTRY FEDERATION
Jakarta, Indonesia: On the day he turned 34, American Kim Sihwan completed the finest season of his 11-year professional career when he wrapped up the Asian Tour Order of Merit title.
Kim finished equal 28th in the Asian Tour’s season-ending BNI Indonesian Masters presented by TNE – good enough from him to repel a number of players in with a chance of catching him.
He finished the year with US$627,458.33 in earnings. Korean Kim Bi-o ended in second place (US$599,609.49) with Zimbabwean Scott Vincent third (US$517,845).
Vincent, Chinese-Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang, Canadian Richard T. Lee, and Thais Jazz Janewattananond, Phachara Khongwatmai and Sadom Kaewkanjana, all had a chance of toppling Kim if they’d won, but their challenges faded on the back nine.
“It feels good. Finally the season’s done and I can’t wait to get some rest,” said Kim. “It’s been a long week with restarts and stuff like that. I’ve been travelling a lot, this is my 28th event of the year and I think my body needs some rest. I felt it today where my whole body was off sync and just couldn’t get anything done.
“Of course [finishing first] was on my mind. But I tried to not let that get to me too much. I was struggling with my putting all week and barely made the cut after my Saturday restart.
“It’s been tough. It always comes down to the last tournament. Jazz and James Chan [Shih-chang] were up there, and Richard was up there for a little bit. If they’d won, they had a chance to overtake me.”
Kim started the season in brilliant fashion, winning the International Series Thailand in February – his maiden professional victory and the first International Series event.
He followed that up by winning the Trust Golf Asian Mixed Stableford Challenge, also in Thailand, in April.
A mid-season loss of form, when he was battling some swing demons and a stray driver, saw him relinquish top spot on the Order of Merit to Kim Bi-o but a third-place finish in last month’s International Series Egypt saw him regain first place.
Prior to this year, Kim had been a perennial ‘nearly man’. He’d recorded eight top-four results on the Asian Tour since 2018, including two runner-up finishes, and had come close to winning on Europe’s Challenge Tour.
