Gavin Green lurks as Koreans dominate Shinhan Donghae Open

Korean trio Kang, Kim and Lee sharing the lead; Gavin Green hoping to break the lead as he trailed the leaders by a single shot at Shinhan Donghae Open.

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Gavin Green of Malaysia

Sep 15, 2017: The Korean trio of Kyungnam Kang, Junsung Kim and Seungtaek Lee dominated the leaderboard as they shared the second round lead at the Shinhan Donghae Open on Friday.

Overnight leaders Kang and Kim carded matching two-under-par 69s while Lee moved into the share of the lead by returning with a 67 at the KRW1.2 billion (approximately US$1.06 million) event which is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Korean PGA.

Malaysia’s Gavin Green will be hoping to break the Korean stronghold as he trailed the leaders by a single shot with his two-day total of seven-under-par 135.

Having started the day tied for seventh, Green remains upbeat of his chances as he took advantage of his booming drives to surge ahead at the 6953-yard par-71 Bear’s Best Cheongna Golf Club.

Thailand’s Prom Meesawat and Panuphol Pittayarat also battled their way into contention by firing a 67 and 68 respectively to stay four shots adrift of the Korean leaders.

Korea’s Sangmoon Bae missed the cut in his first professional tournament since being discharged from military service last month. He posted rounds of 74 and 75 to miss the cut by five shots

Did you know?

  • Kyungnam Kang is a 10-time winner on the Korean Tour but has yet to win on the Asian Tour.
  • Playing in his fourth Asian Tour event this week, Kang’s best results on the Asian Tour this year were recorded in Myanmar and Singapore where he finished tied-ninth and tied-11 respectively.
  • Junsung Kim earned his Asian Tour card when he finished tied-27th at Qualifying School this year. He is playing in his second event on Tour this week.
  • Kim finished tied-45th at the Shinhan Donghae Open last year.
  • Gavin Green is playing at the Shinhan Donghae Open for the first time since he turned professional in 2015. His average driving distance over the last two rounds was 312 yards.
  • Known as one of longest hitters on Tour, Green is equally adept with his short game. He sank his eagle putt on 14 from 18-feet today.
  • Green is looking for his Asian Tour breakthrough this week. He has enjoyed three top-10 results, including two runner-up finishes in India and Chinese Taipei this year.
  • Prom  Meesawat is searching for his first win on the Asian Tour since 2014
  • While he has yet to lift an Asian Tour title, Panuphol Pittayarat has already enjoyed three top-10s this season.
  • The weekend cut was set at two-over-par with 71 players progressing into the final two rounds.

 

Asian Tour Release

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