Sanghyun Park's Veteran Power... 'Total Career Earnings Near 6 Billion Won'

7-Under Spark in KPGA Gyeongbuk Open Round 1
Tied for the Lead with Mincheol Choi and Donghyun Moon
Jeonghun Wang, Seungbin Choi, Sumin Lee, and Heemin Jang Share Fourth Place

This is the veteran power of 43-year-old Sanghyun Park.

On May 14, at Golfzon County Sunsan (par 71) in Gumi, Gyeongbuk, Sanghyun Park swept up nine birdies (with two bogeys) in the first round of the KPGA Gyeongbuk Open on the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) Tour, which has a total prize money of 700 million won. With a score of 7-under-par 64, Park finished the round tied for the lead with Mincheol Choi and Donghyun Moon.

Sanghyun Park is teeing off at the 12th hole during the first round of the KPGA Gyeongbuk Open. Photo by KPGA

Since turning professional in 2005, Sanghyun Park has accumulated 14 wins on the KPGA Tour and total career earnings of 5.94 billion won. He is on the verge of becoming the first player on the tour to surpass 6 billion won in total prize money. The winner’s prize for the Gyeongbuk Open is 140 million won.

Sanghyun Park, who struggled with back pain at the start of the season, said, "This is the first time this year that I am competing in a tournament in normal condition," adding, "Although I still need to be cautious, I want to manage my body well and complete the season through the final tournament."

Six players—Jeonghun Wang, Seungbin Choi, Sumin Lee, Heemin Jang, Dongmin Lee, and Jaewoong Eom—are tied for fourth place at 5-under-par 66, two shots behind the leaders. Songkyu Yoo, Changwoo Lee, Doyeob Moon, Sangyeob Lee, and Bio Kim are tied for 10th at 4-under-par 67, while Taehun Ok, Donghwan Lee, and Kyungtae Kim finished the first round tied for 24th at 2-under-par 69.

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