Ham Jung-woo "Takes Lead by 2 Shots"... K.J. Choi 'Cut Off'

Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Choi Kyung-Joo Invitational Day 3: Ju Heung-Cheol 2nd, Lee Joon-Seok and Kwon Sung-Yeol Tied 3rd, Kim Young-Soo 5th

Ham Jung-woo is teeing off at the 9th hole on the third day of the Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Choi Kyung-ju Invitational. Photo by KPGA

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] Ham Jeong-woo (27, Hana Financial Group) has a chance to win.

On the 2nd, at Ferrum Golf Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province (par 72, 7,235 yards), continuing the Korean Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Choi Kyung-ju Invitational (total prize 1 billion KRW), he shot 5 under par on the third day to take the top spot on the leaderboard (13 under par, 203 strokes). Veteran Joo Heung-cheol (40, Jisan Resort) is in 2nd place (11 under par, 205 strokes), and 'Korean Open champ' Lee Jun-seok (Australia) and Kwon Sung-yeol (35, BRIC) are tied for 3rd place (9 under par, 207 strokes), engaging in a chase.

Starting from a tie for 3rd place, 5 strokes behind, Ham Jeong-woo showed perfect play with 5 birdies and no bogeys. His concentration stood out as he reduced 4 strokes in the front nine with a first birdie on the 2nd hole (par 4), consecutive birdies on the 5th and 6th holes, and another birdie on the 8th hole (par 3). In the back nine, he added one more birdie on the 15th hole (par 4). Rising to a 2-stroke lead, he grabbed the opportunity for his second career win, his first since May 2019 at the SK Telecom Open, after 2 years and 5 months.

Joo Heung-cheol is making an iron shot on the 9th hole on the third day of the Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Choi Kyung-ju Invitational. Photo by KPGA

2016 champion Joo Heung-cheol showed resilience by reducing 4 strokes, while Lee Jun-seok, who was 4 strokes ahead the previous day, struggled with 4 over par. Kim Young-soo (32, PNS Holdings) is in 5th place (8 under par, 208 strokes), 'fisherman swing' Choi Ho-sung (48) is 6th (7 under par, 209 strokes), and Moon Kyung-jun (39, NH Nonghyup Bank) is tied for 9th place (5 under par, 211 strokes). Host Choi Kyung-ju (51, SK Telecom) failed to reduce strokes in the remaining 2 holes postponed due to sunset the previous day, resulting in a tie for 64th place (even par, 144 strokes) and missing the cut.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.