Imahira and Kim lead Shinhan Open, Rahil Gangjee Shoots 71

18 September 2019: Korean-American Chan Kim took advantage of his booming drives to share the first-round lead with Japan’s Shugo Imahira after signing for a five-under-par 66 at The 35th Shinhan Donghae Open on Thursday. Rahil Gangjee shot three birdies in a disciplined opening round 70 and he is lying in T23. S Chikkarangappa and Shiv Kapur ended the day with a 72 to their names, while Viraj Madappa settled for two-over 73. Ajeetesh Sandhu made a 74 and Khalin Joshi shot a 76.

Kim, a former Asian Tour member, currently leads the driving distance on the Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO) and powered ahead after overcoming a nervy start where he dropped four shots in his opening four holes at the Bear’s Best Cheongna Golf Club.

Imahira, who is the highest-ranked Japanese in the field this week, also underlined his credentials by marking his card with six birdies and one bogey to share the morning’s spotlight with Kim.

The Japanese is making his first competitive start in Korea this week and did not display any sign of nerves, showing composure with his shot accuracy on the opening day.

Zimbabwean Scott Vincent found himself in familiar position on the leaderboard again as he signed for a 67 to stay in the mix, one shot off the lead in a share of third place with Korea’s Taehee Lee and Australia’s Wonjoon Lee at the Shinhan Donghae Open title which is being tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Korean PGA and JGTO.

Ends.

Did you know?

• Chan Kim is a former member of the Asian Tour. He topped the Asian Tour Qualifying School in 2013.
• He finished third on the JGTO money list in 2017, thanks to three wins.
• Kim came in second at the Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open on the Japan Golf Tour in July where he earned his spot to The Open. 
• He is currently leading the driving distance stats category (320.34) on the JGTO. 
• Shugo Imahira won the 2018 Order of Merit on the Japan Golf Tour and ended last year in 53rd place on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) last year.
• He is ranked 75th on the OWGR and is coming into the week on the back of two top-10s in his last two weeks on the JGTO.
• Taehee Lee trained under Korean legend Sangho Choi, who is the third oldest winner on the Asian Tour, having won the Maekyung Open at the age of 50 years and 145 days. 
• The Korean immediately took up an Asian Tour membership after winning The 38th GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship in May.
• Lee won the Genesis Championship in 2018 for his second professional victory. That win earned him two starts on the PGA Tour – The CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges last October and the Genesis Open in February earlier this year.
• He enjoyed a solid season in 2018, claiming one victory and four top-10 finishes on his domestic circuit.
• Lee also claimed his first career victory in 2015.
• Scott Vincent, the only Zimbabwean member on Tour, has never finished outside the top-three in his last three outings at the Shinhan Donghae Open.
• He finished tied-second in 2016, tied-third in 2017 and second last year.
• Vincent claimed his first international win at the Landic Challenge 7 held on the Japan Challenge Tour in June.
• He notched four top-10s in Australia, Japan, Korea and Malaysia to sit in ninth place on the latest Asian Tour Order of Merit. He has not missed a single cut in eight starts so far this season.
• Vincent has crowned the Asian Tour Rookie of the Year in 2016 after ending his season in 28th place on the Order of Merit.

Players’ Quotes

Shugo Imahira (Jpn) First round 66 (-5) 
I was very accurate with my shots today. I hit most of them onto the fairways. Although this is my first time playing competitively in Korea, I feel like home, like in Japan, I’m very comfortable here. I’m very happy with my position now. I don’t have too much of a strategy, to be honest. I don’t want to complicate the process. I just want to focus on each shot, see where they land and then approach it from there. To me, this is another tournament, which I’ll approach in the same manner as the others. 

Chan Kim (USA) First round 66 (-5)
It was tough in the beginning, but my birdie on 13 changed things. The winds died down and I managed to regain my momentum. It became more of a mental game for me at that point. The winds were working to my advantage and I had a great feel of my putter each time I lined up for my putts. That really helped today. The rough is really thick this week and it favours the long hitters like me as it gives you a higher chance to hit it further and put the ball on the green. I’ve got a good feeling about my game and hopefully, this could be my week. 

Scott Vincent (Zim) First round 67 (-4)
I got some good history here and got back into the mix again. I hit the ball very nicely today and I hope to carry this form forward to the next three days. It was important for me to get off to a good start and I’m glad I managed to do that today. There were a few shots that I could have done better but overall, it was still a solid round and I’m happy. There have been a lot of changes since last year. The rough feels very much the same but actually, it’s thicker out there. The speed on the greens has picked up from yesterday and I’m sure it’s going to be like that again the next three days.

Taehee Lee (Kor) First round 67 (-4)
The course is very challenging and I’m pleasantly surprised by how I managed to return with such a good score. I used to put a lot of pressure on myself to excel, sometimes too much. I missed the cut in India last week, and that somehow put things into perspective for me. Sometimes even when I try so hard, I still miss the cut, I knew I was putting too much pressure on myself and maybe sometimes have to take a step back a bit. You’ve to hit fairways to give yourself chances here. Even if I missed with my tee shots, I was still able to recover and put the ball back onto the fairway with my second shot. Since taking up membership with the Asian Tour, it has been a good experience travelling to different countries. I’ve learnt a lot about myself too. I enjoy the comforts of home this week. It’s a steep learning curve for me, especially with the food, weather and culture. But as a professional, I’ve got to learn how to play outside my comfort zone too.

Scores after round 1 of The 35th Shinhan Donghae Open being played at the par 71, 7238 Yards Bear’s Best Cheongna GC course (am – denotes amateur):
66 – Shugo Imahira (JPN), Chan Kim (USA).
67 – Wonjoon Lee (AUS), Taehee Lee (KOR), Scott Vincent (ZIM).
68 – Soomin Lee (KOR), Tomoharu Otsuki (JPN), Sadom Kaewkanjana (THA), Yuki Inamori (JPN), Yoseop Seo (KOR), Jeongwoo Ham (KOR), Woohyun Kim (KOR), Paul Peterson (USA).
69 – Jbe Kruger (RSA), Tirawat Kaewsiribandit (THA), Y.E. Yang (KOR), Zach Murray (AUS), Sung Kang (KOR), Daehyun Kim (KOR), Yikeun Chang (KOR), Jazz Janewattananond (THA), Sanghee Lee (KOR).
70 – Tatsunori Nukaga (JPN), Travis Smyth (AUS), Jake Higginbottom (AUS), Tatsuya Kodai (JPN), Songgyu Yoo (KOR), Hyungjoon Lee (KOR), Junggon Hwang (KOR), Jiho Jung (KOR), Matthew Griffin (AUS), Hyowon Park (KOR), Richard T. Lee (CAN), Rahil Gangjee (IND), Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA), Taewook Koh (NZL), Mingyu Cho (KOR).