Season opens with five leaders while invitational players struggle
Top five leaders had a competitive start with 4 under par on the first round of 52nd Kolon & Hana Bank Korea Open held in Woojeong Hills Country Club((Par 71,7,185 yards) on September 10th, expecting stiff competition throughout upcoming rounds.
Dae Hyun Kim, Boo Won Park, Dae Sub Kim, Michael Wright and Kyung Sool Kang all had an exceptional round despite of their conditions and ages. Dae Hyun Kim, a former champion of two previous competitions, is trying to win for the third time. Eight of top ten leaders were Koreans, indicating the achieved level of Korean players internationally. Korea Open is expecting a new star player this season.
However, invited players yielded rather disappointing results. The best of invitational players, Ishikawa Ryo, was placed 12th rank with 1 under par on first round of the competition. Ishikawa stated "I am pretty satisfied with my score, it's a good start" Danny Lee and Rory McIlroy, on the other hand, did even par, placed on 27th and former champion Sang Moon Bae managed even par from two double bogies this round, ranked 27th as well.
Rory Mcllroy, Ishikawa Ryo, UP↑ Danny Lee, Sang Moon Bae DOWN↓
On September 11th, Ishikawa Ryo and Rory McIlroy's big improvement with 3 under par on second round suggested big change of a game with 11th rank placement. Rory McIlroy lowered one shot on front 9 holes then had three birdies and a bogie on back 9, improving his ranking from 27th to 11th. Ishikawa Ryo also managed to shave two shots, ranked 11th tie. They will play together on tomorrow's round for the first time of this event.
Danny Lee, Sang Moon Bae, however, did not succeed improving the game with even par, falling from 27th to 33rd place. On the other hand, Michael Wright, a rookie from Australia, lead the game with total of 9 under par scoring 133 shots total, and Dae Hyun Kim and Joon Woo Choi were the co-leaders with 7 under par.
Cut offs were made at 3 over par, 145 total, which allowed 65 players to go on to the next round, including four amateur players. Korean players were the strong contenders of this season, 47 Korean players made the cut while 40 of them did even par or better.
Ishikawa and Mcllroy leading the third round
Rory McIlroy and Dae Sub Kim were the leaders with 7 under par on third round of Kolon Hana Bank 52nd Korea Open at Woojeong Hills Country Club held on September 12th. Rory McIlroy did an exceptional play with five under par on first six holes, now looking to win the competition. Rory McIlroy stated "I have to lower the score on first half then try to keep them on back 9 so I'll keep that in mind for tomorrow."
Dae Sub Kim, who has won twice already in this competition, scored two under par, 69 total shots, and ranked co-leader with 7 under par. Dae Sub Kim said "First three rounds were very comfortable to play. I prepared my game mainly for Korean Open and it's working for me. I just hope to keep up the pace for tomorrow."
The weather was cloudy and calm for first half but became windy second half and that made players difficult to manage their game for second half's round.
Sang Moon Bae wins the second title in 18 years
Former Champion, Sang Moon Bae, succeeded to win again for Kolon & Hanabank's 52nd Korea Open's final round on September 13th. Sang Moon Bae managed to score 4 under par, total of 67 shots, on final round resulting one point lead from Dae Hyun Kim with 10 under par, 274 total shots, and ranked second place winner. Sang Moon Bae was two shots behind leaders with 4 under par, 67 shots, in third round. He started final round with two birdies and a bogie on front 9 holes and managed to get consecutive birdies from 11 onto 13 holes making a dramatic reversal and won the game.
Sang Moon Bae continued to get birdie chances throughout the holes. Although He did not lower his scores further, he managed to maintain 10 under par to win the game. Sang Moon Bae stated "I had troubles with my driver shots for first two rounds, which is usually my favorite shot. I got better with practices after second round until that night." His plan after winning the Korean Open was "With gained confidence from today, I will challenge Japan qualifying school this coming December." Sang Moon Bae also said, "I will continue to join Korea Open wherever I play, in Japan or in US"