INCHEON, Korea, May 18 - Journeyman Kim Seung-hyuk birdied the last for a two-under-par 70 on Sunday to win OneAsia's SK Telecom Open by a shot from Lee Tae-hee (69) and Kim Kyung-tae (71) at Sky72 Golf Club in Incheon, west of Seoul.
The 28-year-old Korean finished 11 under par around the 6,622-metre (7,241-yard) Ocean Course to claim his first professional title in a career that started in 2005.
Australian David Bransdon (69) also challenged down the stretch but had to settle for fourth place at nine under, while star attraction K.J. Choi (68) was a shot further behind.
Kim banked $195,000 from the one billion won (around U.S. $1 million) purse and moves to the top of the Order of Merit. He is the third player to claim a career-first victory on OneAsia this season following Alexander Levy at the Volvo China Open in April and Park Jun-won at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open last week.
The lead changed hands several times in a gripping final round -- at one point the top four were all tied at 10 under -- on a day where there were birdies aplenty, but also bogeys lurking around every corner.
Sharing the overnight lead with multiple-winner Kim Kyung-tae, Kim Seung-hyuk looked to have blown his chance with a double-bogey at the fourth, but birdies at five and seven got him back in the mix.
I didn’t panic after the double,” he said. “There was still a lot of holes to come, so I just tried to focus on my game.”
He got nervous at the 11th, however, when a glance at the leaderboard after another birdie showed the leaderboard log jam.
“Now we were starting to run out of holes, but I told myself again that I just needed to worry about myself, not anyone else.”
One group ahead, Lee Tae-hee birdied 17 and just missed another on 18 to post a 10-under par target, while playing partner Bransdon made amends for a dropped shot at 17 with a final hole birdie to finish one behind.
Kim Kyung-tae fell away after dropping shots on 11 and 12, but back-to-back birdies on the next two -- as well as a birdie and bogey on 16 and 17 -- kept him in the hunt.
The Kims walked onto the 18th both needing a birdie for victory; Kyung-tae’s 20 footer slid agonisingly by, but Seung-hyuk’s nine-footer, seemingly running out of steam, found the cup.
“It was a fantastic feeling when it went in,” he said, ”now I know I can win a golf tournament, so I can set my sights on winning more.”
As the top international finisher, Bransdon was delighted with his effort.
“If you had asked me before the week if I’d take fourth I would have grabbed it right then,” he said. “Its been a great week for me and hopefully I can build on this effort for the rest of the year.”
Other notable results included American David Oh (70) who finished in a share of ninth at five under and Australians Michael Wright (70) and Jason Scrivener (73) who were one stroke behind.
The Kiwi pair of Mark Brown (71) and Ryan Fox (70) shared 17th place at two under, while defending champion Matthew Griffin of Australia closed with a 71 to finish one behind in 24th alongside countrymen Michael Sim (71), David McKenzie (71) and Nick Cullen(73), as well as Americans Garrett Sapp (72) and Jason Kang (71).
Rory Hie finished the tournament in the back. The only Indonesian player in the field barely made the cut, and with a fair 3rd round he was able to climb to a share of 54th. The final day though things went the wrong way. Despite 4 birdies in the final round, 7 bogeys and a double bogey on the par-5 13th hole meant he finished the tournament in a share of 67th place at 9-over-par.
Score after the final round of the one billion won (U.S. $1 million) SK Telecom Open being played at Sky72's 6,622-metre (7,241-yard), par-72 Ocean Course:
277 - Kim Seung-hyuk (KOR) 66-74-67-70
278 - Lee Tae-hee (KOR) 68-68-73-69, Kim Kyung-tae (KOR) 70-70-67-71
279 - David Bransdon (AUS) 71-70-69-69
280 - K. J. Choi (KOR) 75-67-70-68
Selected:
297 - Rory Hie (INA) 75-72-73-77
Monday, May 19, 2014
Friday, May 9, 2014
Modest George Gandranata Takes The Throne At The Indonesian Golf Tour At LotusLakes Golf Club
“Golf is a ‘day by day’ game. One day you’re good, another day you play bad. I don’t have expectations for each of the tournaments I have played. All I need to do is make sure that I play well and produce a good score with every opportunity,” Said George.
“I want to thank PGTI and Jimmy Masrin who have created the opportunity for the local professional golfers to play more. I am sure that the more we play, we will be able to score better in the future. Of course thanks to all the sponsors such as Linc Group, and the host venue, LotusLakes Golf Club who prepared the course in superb condition, especially the greens that successfully caused headaches for us professional golfers. All was great and gave us more experience,” added George.
George wins the tournament with a total score of even-par, 216 (70-73-73). Tailing him was amateur golfer, Kevin C. Akbar, who finished in second place and came in as the Lowest Male Amateur, with a total score of one-over-par, 217.
The tournament was another success for the Indonesian Golf Tour, thanks to Linc Group as the presenting partner, LotusLakes Golf Club as the host venue, PGTI as the sanctioning body and also OB Golf & Lifestyle Magazine as the promoter.
The next series of the Indonesian Golf Tour will be held at Padang Golf Modern, from June 10th – 12th June 2014. Be sure to mark your calendars and watch your favorite local professional golf player in action.
Leading scores after the final round of the Indonesian Golf Tour at LotusLakes Golf Club (A - denotes amateur):
216 - George Gandranata 70-73-73
217 - Kevin C Akbar (A) 74-71-72
218 - Bramantio Adi 77-72-69, Ian Andrew 75-72-71
221 - Rinaldi Adiyandono 78-71-72, Ilyassak 72-74-75
222 - Ari Safari (A) 78-73-71, Andik Mauludin 73-76-73
223 - Benita Y. Kasiadi 76-73-74
224 - Johannes Dermawan 77-75-72, Indra Hermawan 77-74-73, Abhi Sahari 72-77-75
Gandranata Stays On Top At Indonesian Golf Tour At LotusLakes Golf Club
“My irons and chipping was not working well today. Thanks to my wedges I can save on my score. But overall my game is okay for today. My strategy for tomorrow will be the same. More fairways, more greens, and to score birdies on the par 5's. It is not an easy course. It’s hard to read the greens but we will see tomorrow”, said Gandranata.
“This is my first time playing at LotusLakes Golf Club. It’s a championship course. Its tricky, but there are several holes where you can attack. I enjoy playing here and really appreciate LotusLakes Golf Club for hosting the Indonesian Golf Tour,” added George.
Second place also continued to be occupied by an amateur player, Kevin C. Akbar, who successfully signed-in a total of one-over-par (145), whilst being chased by Ilyassak who sits in third place with a total of two-over-par (146).
With the cut at 17-over-par, it leaves 50 participants entering into the final round tomorrow. 10 out of 14 male amateurs who participated in the Indonesian Golf Tour have managed to survive the cut.
Leading scores after the second round of the Indonesia Golf Tour at LotusLakes Golf Club (A - denotes amateur):
143 - George Gandranata 70-73
145 - Kevin C Akbar (A) 74-71
146 - Ilyassak 72-74
147 - Ian Andrew 75-72, Maan Nasim 75-72
149 - Bramantio Adi 77-72, Rinaldi Adiyandono 78-71, Andik Mauludin 73-76, , Benny Kasiadi 76-73, Abhi Sahari 72 77
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Gandranata Plays With Confidence At Indonesian Golf Tour At LotusLakes Golf Club
George, who was the only Indonesian professional golf player that survived the cut in the recent CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters felt confident with his game and managed to take the lead at the Rp. 200,000,000 event.
Meanwhile, amateur golfer, Joeh Seik tied second place with Putra Abhinawa Sahari and Ilyassak who signed in an even-par.
The launch of the Indonesian Golf Tour presented by Linc Group is an ambitious new professional golf circuit aimed at speeding the development of Indonesia’s up and coming golfers.
The playing field comprises of 80 Indonesian Golf Professionals, 30 Male Amateurs, 20 Female Amateurs and 14 special invites marking the first time Indonesia has seen such a tour that allows for a playing field offering opportunities to both Amateurs and Golf Professionals at the same time.
A total of thirteen 3-day events are being hosted at selected courses in the greater Jakarta area with each boasting Rp200,000,000 prize purses. All 13 events earn ranking points for the participating golf professionals, setting the stage for the Road to the Indonesian Golf Championship to be hosted at Rawamangun Golf Club from December 10th – 13th this year.
The top 30 golf professionals and top 10 amateurs will play for the grand prize purse of Rp500,000,000 with all golf professionals guaranteed winnings in the 4-day tournament as well as the three top professional securing themselves a country exemption spot on the Asian Development Tour for the 2015 season.
Leading scores after the first round of the Indonesian Golf Tour Series at LotusLakes Golf Club (A - denotes amateur):
70 - George Gandranata
72 - Ilyassak, Abhi Sahari, Joeh Seik (A)
73 - Andik Mauludin
74 - Kevin C Akbar (A), Sarmilih
75 - Ian Andrew, Irmansyah, Jordan Surya Irawan, Denni Hermawan
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