"Honey, I'll take the trophy" Jo Seongmin leaps to the lead in round 2 of Gunsan CC Open

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Jung Sung-min is making a driver tee shot on the 1st hole of the 2nd round at the Bodyfriend Phantom Robo Gunsan CC Open. Photo by KPGA

[Asia Economy Reporter Hee-jun Jang] "Honey, I'll give you the championship trophy as a birthday present!"

This is the determination of veteran Cho Sung-min (37). On the 26th, Cho Sung-min surged with a 9-under-par in the second round of the KPGA Korean Tour Bodyfriend Phantom Robo Gunsan CC Open (total prize money 500 million KRW) held at Gunsan CC Lead & Lake Course (par 72) in Jeonbuk, topping the leaderboard with 11-under-par 133 strokes.

Cho Sung-min made consecutive birdies on holes 1 and 2, followed by three consecutive birdies from holes 5 to 7. He also made a birdie on the 9th hole (par 5), reducing six strokes in the front nine. In the back nine, after consecutive birdies on holes 12 and 13, he made a bogey on the 14th hole (par 4), but showed resilience with consecutive birdies again on holes 15 and 16.

Cho Sung-min debuted on the Korean Tour in 2016. Although he finished the first round with a disappointing tie for 38th place by reducing two strokes the previous day, he quickly rose to the top. His score this day broke his personal best score of 8-under-par 64 set at the 2017 SK Telecom Open.

Cho Sung-min said, "My shots were sharp and my putting was good, so overall it was a satisfying day," jokingly adding, "Maybe because the main sponsor is an eye clinic, the greens look clear." He continued, "I haven't had my wedding yet, but yesterday (the 25th) was my wife's birthday," and vowed, "I will give the championship trophy as a birthday present."

Kang Kyung-nam (39) reduced three strokes and joined the co-lead. Although he narrowly missed the championship after a playoff at the Woosung Construction Open on the 14th, he jumped back into the winning competition after two weeks. He is expecting his first win of the season and the 12th win in his Korean Tour career.

Hwang In-chun (48), who topped the leaderboard on the first day, exchanged two birdies for two bogeys and failed to reduce his score. He dropped to a tie for 3rd place (9-under-par 133 strokes). Seo Yo-seop (26) and Kim Jin-sung (33) are also in this group.

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