Yang Ji-ho (Photo Asian Tour)
Yang Ji-ho completed an emotional and extraordinary wire-to-wire victory in the Korea Open to become the first pre-qualifier to claim the prestigious title in its 68-year history.
He triumphed by four shots after shooting a battling five-over-par 76 at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club – taking full advantage of his seven-stroke advantage at the start of the day.
The Korean finished on nine under, built on rounds of 65, 67 and 67, and also secured a place in The Open at Royal Birkdale in July, as this week’s event is part of the Open Qualifying Series.
Sweden’s Charlie Lindh claimed second place following a 73 for his best finish on the Asian Tour. He holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-five 18th to snatch second on his own from Koreans Wang Jeung-hun and Bae Sang-moon.
Jeung-hun, who emerged as Ji-ho’s main threat early on, shot a 71 while Sang-moon, the winner of this event in 2008 and 2009, carded a 69. Wang, playing in the penultimate group, got to within four of Ji-ho on the front nine but was unable to keep the pressure on.
Mexico’s Abraham Ancer enjoyed a good workout before next week’s LIV Golf Korea by tying for fifth after shooting a 73.
“It’s finally over!” said 41-year-old Ji-ho, who will be making his debut in The Open. “And I think I can finally eat. I was so nervous this week, and I felt like I was throwing up without eating anything all day. I think I’ve had about eight bananas today and that’s it. I think I’m ready for a good night sleep tonight.”
He’d finished 18th in a pre-qualifier last month and, although a two-time winner on the Korean PGA Tour, in 2022 and 2023, arrived here as a rank outsider. His previous best finish in his national open was joint 20th in 2019 plus in five starts on the Korean PGA Tour this season his best result was a tied-17th at the Founders Cup earlier this month.
When asked how he felt after negotiating that qualifier, he said: “I played in another event the week before and finished 17th playing in the final group. I didn’t play well in the last round, and I had a four-hour drive home, and I was completely exhausted knowing the qualifier was the very next day. I seriously debated whether to even go to the Korea Open and considered just taking the week off. But my wife insisted and even called a driver for me, and thanks to that, I made it to the qualifier. If she hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t be standing here right now.”
Despite starting the day with a seven-shot lead today, the nerves, as expected, showed at the start. He made bogey on his opening two holes but fortunately for him his closest challengers, Lindh and Ancer, playing in the same final group, also begun poorly. The former doubled the first while the latter bogeyed the second, meaning Yang’s lead was still seven.
However, it was Jeung-hun who unsettled Ji-ho when he birdied three in a row from the second to close the gap to five after four holes.
Ji-ho then steadied the ship by making his first birdie of the day on the par-five fifth, to move six ahead.
Jeung-hun then struck back once more making birdies on six and eight to close the gap to four before the pivotal ninth hole left Yang in a dominant position.
Jeung-hun dropped a shot there before Ji-ho chipped in for birdie shortly after to go seven ahead. It meant Jeung-hun just needed a steady back nine to seal the deal, which proved a challenge, but he was helped further when Wang made a double on the 11th to hand Yang a massive eight-shot cushion.
By the time Jeung-hun reached 18, after probably the most stressful nine holes of his 20-year professional career, he had a six-shot lead. This was despite dropping shots on 13, 16 and 17 but none of his pursuers were able to capitalise and mount a late challenge.
It was a tearful Jeung-hun who putted out on 18. He’d reached the green in three and with emotions visibly running high he rushed his first putt from long range 18 feet by the hole, with the broomstick putter that had served him well all week. He took two more from there for his third bogey in a row but with the trophy safely secured.
The win could not have come at a better time as his wife is expecting a baby soon. She is his regular caddie, including for his two wins, until getting pregnant.
He said yesterday: “My wife has been talking a lot about ‘Mureogi’ [the baby’s nickname]. I give everything I have knowing my wife and Mureogi are with me. My wife never made big demands. Obviously, some things were tough because she wasn’t a professional caddie, but she is absolutely incredible for my mental game. That’s why we were able to win twice together.”
Lindh was delighted to pull through at the end after his poor start.
He said: “I mean, obviously I just got shocked by the pin on the first, and after like a poor chip shot, I three putted it. Obviously, I was nervous, but I was also surprised of how much break it was on that pin, which put me on a little defense mode going forward during the day. But I mean I shook it off.”
The result beat his previous best finish, which was joint third in last year’s Taifong Open. He was full of praise for Jo-ho’s win today.
“Yeah, I mean, he obviously played good all week, but he hit some worse shots at times, but he managed to save them – like as good as he needed for having that big of a lead. After that chip went in on nine, when it almost moved the hole a bit, that’s what counted. So, yeah, after that the tournament was over.”
The Asian Tour has a week off now before it embarks on an exciting two-week swing in Morocco. The am green Bharath Classic will be played at Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort from 4-7 June and will be joint sanctioned with the Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL). It will be followed by the International Series Morocco, which is returning to Royal Golf Dar Es Salam (Red Course) from June 11-14.
