‘Veteran’ Choi Jin-ho (39) maintained the sole lead in the third round of the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour Woori Finance Championship (total prize money of 1.5 billion won). Lim Seong-jae (25) chases Choi Jin-ho by 5 strokes.
In the third round of the tournament held on the 13th at the Ferrum Club (par 71) in Yeoju-si, Gyeonggi-do, Choi Jin-ho hit a 2-under-par 69 with 3 birdies and 1 bogey.
Choi Jin-ho, who recorded a total of 11-under 205 strokes in the third round, beat Yoon Sang-pil (25) in second place by one stroke and took the lead for two days in a row.
Choi Jin-ho, who won 8 Korean Tour victories in 5 years and 4 months at the Bizplay Electronic Newspaper Open in August last year, is aiming for a total of 9 victories in 9 months in this tournament with the highest prize money on the Korean Tour.
Choi Jin-ho won the Genesis Grand Prize in 2016 and 2017, and with this qualification, he got the right to participate in the European Tour (now DP World Tour) and focused on the European Tour for a while. He, who has focused on the domestic stage since 2021, said, “After returning from Europe, I did not win for a while, so my confidence dropped a lot. After winning last year, he gained a lot of confidence in his shot and seemed to be looking for my play,” he said.
Regarding the game that day, “Overall, the feeling of the shot was very good. The pin position was difficult, but I focused on attacking the second shot. There were a lot of shots that were close to the pin, but it’s unfortunate that I didn’t have many birdie chances. He also had trouble putting because there were a lot of difficult lines,” he explained.
In the final 4th round to be held on the 14th, Choi Jin-ho will play as a champion group with Yoon Sang-pil, who is in second place, and Han Seung-soo (37), who is in third place alone. Choi Jin-ho said, “I think the pin position will be difficult even in the final round. I will try to keep the fairway during the tee shot, and I will target a place where it is easy to putt.”
Yoon Sang-pil, who ranked second by one stroke alone (10 under par 206 strokes), has been active on the Korean Tour since 2019 and is a player who has been in his 5th year this year. His best performance on the Korean Tour was a tie for second at the 2018 Huons Celebrity Pro-Am. Han Seung-soo, the first player on the Korean Tour, rose to third place alone with a total of 7 under par and 209 strokes.메이저놀이터
Lim Seong-jae (25), a “signboard” with two wins on the PGA Tour, tied 5 birdies, 1 bogey, and 1 double bogey to reduce 2 strokes and tied for 4th place (6 under par, 210 strokes). He is 5 strokes behind leader Choi Jin-ho.
Im Seong-jae also won the Korean Tour Genesis Championship in October 2019 by overturning a gap of 7 strokes, so even a gap of 5 strokes is not an irreversible score.
Im Seong-jae said, “There is a gap between the current lead and the number of strokes, but I will try to close the gap in the final round. The Ferrum Club has a difficult pin position and it is difficult to get a birdie if you cannot keep the fairway. I will focus on attacking the fairway and will work on the final round so that I can catch many birdies.”
Defending champion Jang Hee-min (21) tied for 10th place (3 under par, 213 strokes), and Jeong Chan-min (24), who won the GS Caltex Maekyung Open last week, tied for 32nd (even par 216 strokes).
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