Amateur Jo Woo-young "I am the inaugural champion of Golfzon Open"

Amateur Jo Woo-young has taken over the professional stage.

On the 23rd, Jo Woo-young finished the final 4th round of the newly established Korean Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour Golfzon Open (total prize money 700 million KRW) held at Golfzon County Ora in Jeju City, Jeju Island (par 72, 7,195 yards) with a 5-under-par, completing a come-from-behind victory (8-under-par 280 strokes). It is the first time in about 10 years since amateur Lee Chang-woo won the Dongbu Insurance Promy Open in September 2013 that an amateur has won on the Korean Tour. This marks the 10th amateur victory in the history of the Korean Tour.

Jo Woo-young is teeing off at the 4th hole of the 4th round of the Golfzon Open.
[Photo by KPGA]

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Starting from 3rd place, one stroke behind, Jo Woo-young recorded one eagle and four birdies (with one bogey). He took over the top of the leaderboard with birdies on holes 1 and 4, added an eagle on the 6th hole (par 5), and two more birdies on the 10th and 13th holes, distancing himself from his competitors. Although he made a bogey on the 17th hole (par 3), it did not affect his winning score. Jo Woo-young exclaimed, "I am so happy to win ahead of the Asian Games," and added, "I will do my best at the Asian Games as well."

Jo Woo-young is an amateur golfer who has won the Heo Jeong-gu Cup and Songam Cup. He is currently enrolled at Korea National Sport University and is sponsored by Woori Financial Group. Jo Woo-young will represent South Korea at the Hangzhou Asian Games this September. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Asian Games were postponed by one year, delaying his transition to professional status. Last month, Jo Woo-young won both the KPGA Srixon (2nd division) Tour's two events and the 1st division tour.

With an amateur winning, the first prize money of 140 million KRW for this tournament went to runner-up Kim Dong-min (4-under-par 284 strokes). Kang Kyung-nam and Kim Min-gyu tied for 3rd place (3-under-par 285 strokes), amateur Jang Yoo-bin, who will also participate in the Asian Games alongside Jo Woo-young, tied for 5th place (2-under-par 286 strokes), and veteran Choi Ho-sung performed well, tying for 8th place (1-under-par 287 strokes). Middle school amateur Ahn Sung-hyun tied for 35th place (6-over-par 294 strokes), and last year's disabled US Open champion Lee Seung-min tied for 68th place (14-over-par 302 strokes).

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