'Korea's No.1' Kim Joo-hyung 7th Place "Chasing Race Starts"... "No Comment on Super Golf League Entry"

2nd day of Maekyung Open: National player Song Min-hyeok shoots 5-under par daily best 'Amateur sensation', Kim Bi-o joins co-lead at 3-under par

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] The full-scale chase by ‘Korea’s No. 1’ Kim Joo-hyung (20, CJ Logistics, photo) has begun.

On the 6th, at Namseoul Golf Club in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province (par 71, 7,047 yards), Kim added 3 under par on the second day of the KPGA GS Caltex Maekyung Open (total prize money 1.2 billion KRW) to leap into a tie for 7th place (4 under par 138). Lee Dong-min (37), Kim Bi-o (32), and national representative Song Min-hyuk (18, Bibong High School) are fiercely battling in a tie for the lead (7 under par 135), while Veera Madappa (India) is aiming to become the first foreign champion in 17 years from a tie for 4th place (6 under par 136).

Kim Joo-hyung was last year’s youngest triple crown winner on the Korean Tour. He competed for the title in every tournament, including his victory at the SK Telecom Open in June and three runner-up finishes in 14 events, sweeping the year-end money title (754.94 million KRW), the Player of the Year award (5,540.56 points), and the lowest scoring average (69.16). It is interesting that he also secured the Asian Tour money title by winning the Singapore International in January. This tournament marks his first domestic appearance this year.

Currently ranked 78th in the world, Kim Joo-hyung is reportedly a target for recruitment by the newly launched Saudi Arabia-led Super Golf League (SGL), which is set to compete with the PGA Tour. The LIV Golf Invitational Series, also known as SGL, features 48 players divided into 12 teams through a draft system, playing 54 holes over three rounds without a cut. Each event offers a total prize pool of 25 million dollars (approximately 31.9 billion KRW), including 20 million dollars (2.55 billion KRW) for individual competition and 5 million dollars (640 million KRW) for team competition ? truly a ‘money festival.’

Regarding his participation in the SGL, Kim Joo-hyung has so far responded with "No comment." He also stated that his participation in the LIV Series opening event, which begins on June 9 at Wentworth Centurion Golf Club in England, is "not yet decided." The PGA Tour and DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) have taken a hard stance, declaring that players who join the SGL will be expelled, which seems to be causing him some concern. He is determined to focus on overseas tours such as the PGA Championship in the first half of the year.

While Song Min-hyuk made waves with a daily best 5 under par, Kim Bi-o joined the race for the title. Park Sang-hyun (39, Dong-A Pharmaceutical), champion of the DB Insurance Promy Open, is challenging for his third win in this tournament after victories in 2016 and 2018, tied for 7th place aiming for back-to-back wins. Lee Hyung-jun (30, Welcome Savings Bank), runner-up at the Promy Open, has joined this group aiming for a ‘return match.’ Defending champion Heo In-hoo (35) remains tied for 51st place (2 over par 144).

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