Kim Chan-woo is thrilled with his first win in his career despite the blemishes of his management, “Now that I am no longer worried about the seed, I will work hard to be remembered as a ‘good player.’”

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• on Sep 18, 2023

Kim Chan-woo (24) won his first thrilling win in his 33rd competition. He returned to the Korean Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour through the Qualifying Test (QT), moved up the rankings through re-ranking, and kissed his first win in his debut.

Kim Chan-woo reduced 8 strokes without a bogey in the second round of the Korean Tour Bizplay Electronic News Open (total prize money of 700 million won) held at Cosmos Lynx Country Club (par 72, 7,407 yards) in Yeongam, Jeollanam-do on the 17th. He won with a final total of 12 under par, 132 strokes, beating the second-place group, including Lee Seong-ho and Jeon Garam, by one stroke.

This tournament, which was originally scheduled to be held as a four-round tournament, was reduced to two rounds of 36-hole stroke play due to rain on the 15th and 16th. It has been 34 years since the Pocari Sweat Open in 1989 that the Korean Tour held a 36-hole tournament. Not only did the rain have an impact, but the new Cosmos Lynx’s drainage problems made it unavoidable to operate with disruption.

Due to the inclement weather, eight people gave up participating in the competition, including Lee Seung-taek, who was the leader in the first round, and announced his withdrawal. Kim Chan-woo was fortunate to be crowned the winner in the second round of the competition for the third time since the 1983 Busan Open.

Kim Chan-woo, who became a regular member in 2017, was mainly active in the Srixon (Part 2) tour. He made his debut on the Korean Tour last year with a tie for 18th place in the 2021 Korean Tour QT, but did not achieve remarkable results, such as passing the cut seven times in 16 competitions.

A tie for 3rd place at the Woosung Construction Open is his best result on the Korean Tour. Last year, he made it to the top 10 twice, but most of the time he finished in the lower to mid-range and failed to maintain his seeding at 80th in Genesis Points. He tied for 30th in the second QT last winter and returned to the Korean Tour after receiving seed number 133.

Although he did not achieve outstanding results in the first half of the year, he ranked tied for 18th place at the Honors K and Solarago CC Han Jang-sang Invitational, which was his best of the season, and showed consistency by finishing tied for 24th at the KPGA Gunsan CC Open and tied for 13th at the LX Championship.스포츠토토

He is a long hitter with an average driver distance of 305.94 yards (15th), but his fairway landing rate (51.79%) and green hitting rate (66.4%) are poor, so he remains in the middle rank. Before this competition, he was ranked 56th in Genesis points (787.67 points) and 67th in average strokes (72.58 strokes), but he achieved a turning point by winning this competition.

Because this tournament was shortened to 36 holes, only 75% of the total prize money will be paid out. Kim Chan-woo received 105 million won in prize money, which is more than the 102 million won in prize money he has earned from the Korean Tour in one tournament. The biggest gain is being able to participate in the Korean Tour without worrying about seeding until 2025.

Kim Chan-woo is looking at the target with a cautious expression during the second round of the KPGA Korean Tour Bizplay Electronic Newspaper Open held at Cosmos Rings in Yeongam, Jeollanam-do on the 17th. photos | KPGA

Kim Chan-woo said, “My goal was to maintain my seeding, and as I won my first championship, I want to be remembered as a better player by accumulating the number of wins. “I feel so happy to be able to give the championship trophy to my family,” he said with a bright smile.