Kim Juhyung Runner-up..."Best Performance by a Korean Player at The Open"

Final Day of the 151st The Open: 4-Under Surge
Choi Kyung-ju Ties 8th Place, Matching 2007 Record
Harman Wins Major, Rahm 2nd, McIlroy 6th

‘PGA star’ Kim Joo-hyung made another piece of history. He recorded the best performance by a Korean at the oldest major tournament, The Open Championship.

On the 23rd (local time), Kim Joo-hyung finished the 4th round of the 151st Open Championship (total prize money $16.5 million) at Royal Liverpool Golf Club (par 71, 7,383 yards) in Hoylake, Wirral, England, overcoming harsh weather with wind and rain to shoot 4 under par and finish tied for 2nd place (7 under par 277). This surpassed the previous best Korean Open record of tied 8th held by ‘eldest brother’ Choi Kyung-ju since 2007.

Kim Joo-hyung is teeing off at the 1st hole of the 4th round of the 151st Open, the oldest major tournament. [Hoylake (England) = Photo by Reuters and Yonhap News]

Starting tied for 11th place, 9 strokes behind, Kim Joo-hyung recorded 1 eagle, 4 birdies, and 2 bogeys. Although he started shakily with consecutive bogeys on holes 1 and 2, he changed the momentum with a birdie on the 4th hole (par 4) and an eagle on the 5th hole (par 5). Kim then made ‘stepping stone birdies’ on holes 9 and 11, followed by another stroke gain on the 15th hole (par 5), creating a thrilling run. This moment marked his best major tournament result, surpassing his tied 8th place finish at last month’s US Open.

Kim Joo-hyung is a ‘young gun’ who became the youngest money winner on both the Asian Tour and the Korean Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA) Korean Tour while still in his teens. Last August, he became the youngest player to win twice on the PGA Tour (at 20 years and 3 months) by winning the Wyndham Championship and the Shriners Children’s Open. With fluent English skills and energetic play, he is gaining attention in the global golf world. Last year, he signed a contract with Nike, which sponsors golf legends like Tiger Woods (USA) and ‘PGA icon’ Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), shining a spotlight on him.

Brian Harman (USA) shot 4 birdies and 3 bogeys to finish 1 under par, securing a commanding 6-stroke victory (13 under par 271). This was his first major win and his third career victory, coming 6 years and 2 months after the Wells Fargo Championship in May 2017. The winner’s prize was $3 million (approximately 3.88 billion KRW). Harman became the third left-handed player to win The Open, following Bob Charles (New Zealand) in 1963 and Phil Mickelson (USA) in 2013.

World No. 3 Jon Rahm (Spain), ‘John Deere Classic champion’ Sepp Straka (Austria), and Jason Day (Australia) tied for 2nd place, while world No. 2 Rory McIlroy finished tied for 6th (6 under par 278). Im Sung-jae tied for 20th (1 under par 283), world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (USA) and An Byeong-hun tied for 23rd (even par 284), defending champion Cameron Smith (Australia) tied for 33rd (1 over par 285), and ‘major hunter’ Brooks Koepka (USA) finished tied for 64th (8 over par 292).

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