Han Seung-soo, a Korean American who has been active on the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) tour for 7 years, is looking forward to winning the wire-to-wire at the Kolon Korea Open (total prize money of 1.4 billion won), a national title tournament.
In the third round of the tournament held on the 24th at Ujeong Hills Country Club (par 71) in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, Han Seung-soo endured with a 1-over-par 72 and kept the lead with a median total of 6-under-par 207.
On this day, Lee Jae-kyung, who reduced 1 stroke, was 1 stroke away.
Han Seung-soo, who never gave up the lead from round 1 to round 3, laid the foundation for winning the Korean Open Wire-to-Wire in two years after Lee Jun-seok in 2021.
In the 65th Korean Open, there have been only 12 cases where a player has won after holding the lead from the first round, including a joint lead.
In particular, there are only three people who have won all rounds while holding the lead alone. Most recently, Lee Kang-seon achieved it in 1987.
If Han Seung-soo wins, he will rise to the top of the KPGA Korean Tour total of 2 wins in 3 years after winning the 2020 LG Signature Players Championship.
Han Seung-soo said, “There were a lot of crises, but it’s fortunate that I blocked it well, and I’ll focus as much as possible tomorrow.”
However, Han Seung-soo is in a position where the difference in strokes has decreased from 3 strokes the previous day to 1 stroke, making it impossible to guarantee victory.
This is because the course is so difficult that leading by one stroke is virtually meaningless at Woojeong Hills Country Club, where the score is higher than expected.
Han Seung-su, who started the third round with a 3-stroke lead over Lee Jae-kyung메이저놀이터, allowed Lee Jae-kyung to take the lead by reducing 3 strokes until the 5th hole, but regained the lead by 1 stroke with the first birdie of the day on the 8th hole (par 5).
Lee Jae-kyung lost one stroke each on holes 9 and 10, and Han Seung-soo, who regained his margin by three strokes, was chased by one stroke again with a double bogey on hole 11 (par 4).
Han Seung-soo, who sighed at Lee Jae-kyung’s bogey on the 12th hole (par 4), lost one stroke due to a tee shot mistake on the last hole 18 (par 5) and had to be satisfied with the lead by one stroke.
Lee Jae-kyung, who ranked first in points at the Genesis Grand Prix by entering the top 10 in five consecutive tournaments, including one recent win, saved his second win of the season and a chance to win a total of four.
2021 Korean Open champion Lee Jun-seok (Australia) shot 3 under par 68 to rise to a tie for 3rd place (2 under par 211 strokes).
Ian Snyman (South Africa) will play the final round in a tie for third place with Lee Jun-seok.
Hwang Joong-gon and Lee Jung-hwan tied for 5th place (1 under par 212 strokes), followed.
Defending champion Kim Min-gyu and Jo Min-gyu, who lost last year to Kim Min-gyu in overtime, are tied for 7th place (even par 213 strokes) and challenge to reverse on the final day