14 September, 2017: Indian golfers had a difficult day at the Bear’s Best Cheongna Golf Club, venue of the Shinhan Donghae Open. Rahil Gangjee kept it even on the Incheon course, while Shubhankar Sharma and S Chikkarangappa shot one over 72.
Korea’s Kyungnam Kang and Junsung Kim seized the early initiative on the opening day of the Shinhan Donghae Open when they fired matching six-under-par 65s to share the first round lead on Thursday.
Kim had the honour of recording the tournament’s first hole-in-one when he aced the par-three 12 while Kang fired seven birdies against a lone bogey to set the early pace at the KRW1.2 billion (approximately US$1.06 million) event which is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Korean PGA.
The Korean duo hold a two-shot advantage over a quartet of players that included Korean-American Chan Kim, France’s Lionel Weber as well as compatriots Younghan Song and Seungtaek Lee.
Defending champion Gaganjeet Bhullar and Jeev Milkha Singh started their week with a two over 73. The duo will need a healthy return on Friday to avoid missing the cut.
Chiragh Kumar and Sujjan Singh were further back after signing on a first round card of 74.
Gangjee was two under through the front nine, with three birdies and a bogey. A serene back nine was spoilt on the 13th hole, where Gangjee conceded a painful double bogey.
Even though Gangjee made pars on each of the other holes, the double took away the gains he made on the front nine, leaving him with an even 71 on his card.
Did you know?
- Kyungnam Kang is a 10-time winner on the Korean Tour. His last win was in July this year and he also finished tied-second at a local event in June.
- Junsung Kim recorded his second hole-in-one of the year with his seven-iron from 150 yards today. He had his first hole-in-one at the Korea Open which was also achieved during his first round.
- Chan Kim lost his Asian Tour card in 2015 to focus on his playing opportunities in Japan where he has since won two titles.
- Chan Kim was born in Suwon but moved to Hawaii in the United States when he was two years old.
- 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.
- Green has won thrice on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) and his first victory in 2014 was won as an amateur.
With inputs from Asian Tour
