Previous Opens

Past Champions

2013 Tournament

On 2013 October 17th 56th Kolon Korea Open 1st round, there was mixed feeling of happiness and disappointment going on among the potential candidates for the champion title. Kang Sung Hoon hit 1 eagle and 5 birdies and, with the momentum of it, finished the game as joint 6th place with the score of 2 under par 69 strokes. On the contrary, Rory Mcilroy, who drank bitter cup at the threshold of the victory in 2011 Korea Open, dropped the ball in the Hazard on the 13th hole(par 3); he barely controlled the accuracy of the ball. He was suffering from condition decline due to jet leg and, he eventually finished the 1st round with total sum of 1 under par 70 strokes and could not make it to the top 10. On this day, veteran Jang Ik Jae put his name on the uppermost of the leaderboard. His 1st round score was 4 under par 67 strokes, absolutely leading the game solely. While, the 13th hole that swallowed Mcilroy's ball is par 3 and extends over 200 yard. Suitable in Korea Open, the hole is abstruse to target. On this day, there were only 3 players who hit birdie on this hole. Even Professional golfers can never face this hole with carelessness. Ishikawa Ryo, who played in 2009 Kolon Korea Open as an invited player, dropped the ball inside the hazard 3 successive times on the 13th hole and had hard time managing his score.

On October 18th 56th Kolon Korea Open 2nd round, Hong Soon Sang stood out conspicuously. He, who joined the joint 6th place group with 1st round total sum of 2 under par, successfully hit chip-in birdies for 3 successive times, beating up his competitors. He climbed up to the leading position with total sum of 5 under par 137 strokes. The results of the remaining two days of competition were really important for him. He, who put his name down on KPGA prize ranking 12th place back then, is aiming to climb up to the top of the Korea Open and leap forward to 1st place in prize ranking. Kang Sung Hoon, who finished the 1st round as joint 6th place, reduced 2 strokes during the 2nd round scoring total sum of 4 under par 138 strokes and, started to pursue after leading group by climbing up to be joint 2nd place together with Hwang In Chun and Kim Hyung Tae. Kang Sung Hoon, 1 stroke falling behind the lead Hong Soon Sang, forewarned close match on the 3rd round. On the first day of the game, Mcilroy, who had been muddled and failed to get into the Top 10, scored intermediate sum of 3 under par 139 strokes and leaped forward to joint 5th place falling 2 strokes behind the lead. Jang Ik jae, who climbed up to solo lead on the 1st round, could not keep his rank and was ousted to joint 5th place.

Kim Hyung Tae, who had climbed up to joint 2nd place on the previous day, accelerated to enter the leading group. He, on the 3rd round, went up to solo lead by hitting 5 birdies without any bogeys. His perfect play was made into the score of 9 under par 204 strokes. Kim Hyung Tae, who won the gold medal back then at the KPGA Championship, also won the Korea Open and has challenged the record of winning gold medals in 2 major championships in one season ever since 1971 Hang Sang Sang. Hong Soon Sang, who climbed up to solo lead on the 2nd round, continued close game with Kim Hyung Tae, but radically collapsed on the latter half. Hong Soon San, who made a mistake of hitting successive bogeys on the 14th, 16th, and 17th holes, yield the lead to Kim Hyung Tae and came down to 2nd place with 4 strokes difference. Kang Sung Hoon lost 2 strokes and scored intermediate sum of 2 under par 211 strokes, remaining on joint 5th place.

Kang Sung Hoon, who moved on to 4th round with 7 strokes falling behind 3rd round lead Kim Hyung Tae, could not manage to reduce the number of hits on the last day of the game. Eventually, he went up to 2nd place with total sum of 4 under par 280 strokes, reducing 2 strokes. He had to feel satisfied with the 2nd place. However, an unexpected event happened to the lead Kim Hyung Tae. He earned 2 penalty strokes, because he violated the rules on the 13th hole. Back then, Kim Hyung Tae attempted his 2nd shot in the situation where 13th hole tee shot fell inside the rough hazard area. The penalty stroke was applied, because it was accepted that the club head touched the ground (golf rule 13-4) in this process. After all, Kim Hyung Tae scored total sum of 3 under par 281 strokes, remaining in joint 2nd place group. Kang Sung Hoon took the champion title. It is his 2 weeks consecutive victories and first victory in the major championship visualized in Kolon 56th Korea Open.