Yang Yong-eun 'Co-Leader'... "First Champions Tour Win GO"

Ascension Charity Classic 2R 5-Under Surge
Sutherland Tied for Lead, Duke 3rd in Win Race
Choi Kyung-ju, Wi Chang-su, Els Among 6 Tied 26th

“Son of the Wind” Yang Yong-eun has seized a chance to win on the Senior Tour.

Yang Yong-eun is watching his second shot on the 18th hole during the second round of the Champions Tour Ascension Charity Classic. [St. Louis, USA = AFP·Yonhap News]

On the 9th (local time), at Norwood Hills Country Club (par 71, 6,992 yards) in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, Yang shot a 5-under 66 in the second round of the PGA Champions Tour Ascension Charity Classic (total prize money $2 million), maintaining his position at the top of the leaderboard with a 12-under 130 total. Kevin Sutherland shares the lead, Ken Duke is in third place (11-under 131), Steve Flesch is tied for fourth (10-under 132), and David Toms (all from the USA) are among four players tied for sixth place (8-under 134).

Yang recorded seven birdies and two bogeys. After consecutive birdies on holes 2 and 3, he took a brief breather with a bogey on hole 4, then secured back-to-back birdies on holes 8 and 9. Although he started the back nine shakily with a bogey on the 10th hole (par 3), he demonstrated resilience by adding three more birdies on holes 11, 14, and 17. His scrambling ability?saving par or better when missing the green?was outstanding at 100%.

This is the first time since his Champions Tour debut last year that Yang Yong-eun will enter the final third round as the leader. Following “Tank” Choi Kyung-ju, he is the second Korean with a chance to win on the Champions Tour. Yang’s best Champions Tour result to date is runner-up at this same tournament last year. Choi Kyung-ju recorded three birdies without any bogeys. Along with Wi Chang-soo (USA), Ernie Els (South Africa), Rod Pampling (Australia), and two others, he is tied for 26th place (4-under 138).

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