Asian Tour: Kim eyes return to Royal Troon after Korea Open win, season best for Kho
- Kim Min-kyu shoots five-under 66 to win national championship for second time, as Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho bags top 15 finish
The last time Kim Min-kyu was at Royal Troon, Henrik Stenson was winning the 2016 Open Championship and the South Korean was a schoolboy watching from the sidelines. This year he will have the chance to play alongside the Swede and a host of other golfing greats.
Kim won the Korea Open for a second time on Sunday with a sparkling five-under-par 66, sealing a place at the last major of the year, and bringing an end to a challenging 18 months that began after his first national title in 2022.
Just eight weeks later, the 23-year-old was involved in a car crash that he needed seven months to recover from, but he has been slowly returning to the kind of form that saw him become the European Challenge Tour’s youngest winner at the age of 17.
Trailing by two shots going into the final round of the Asian Tour co-sanctioned event at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club, Kim had opened up a three-shot lead on overnight leader Song Young-han by the 12th hole, and then came the moment when Kim said he “felt I was going to win”.
Kim hit his tee shot at the par-three 13th into the water, only for it to skim off the surface and nestle on the edge of the island green. He made par, birdied the next hole and never looked back.
“I feel like I am dreaming,” Kim said. “[On hole 13] I tried to hit a fade, but it flew too low. It hit water and came up. I went over and the ball was there.
“I have been to Royal Troon before to watch an Open when I was at junior high school, so I will go there with good memories.”
Kim finished on 11 under overall, three clear of Song, who will also be at Royal Troon, with compatriots Jang Yu-bin and Kang Kyung-nam in a tie for third at seven under.
Taichi Kho, meanwhile, had his best finish of the season, with a two-over 73 in the final round leaving him even-par for the tournament and in a tie for 13th.
The Hongkonger had an up-and-down week, starting with a 73 but recovering with rounds of 67 and 71 to be in sight of the top 10 heading into Sunday.
Kho called his week “good progress” and said he felt there were plenty of positives to take away from how he played in “a challenging environment”.
“I think the season’s been pretty solid, I haven’t really put in too many strong results yet, but I feel like the game is heading in the right direction,” Kho said. “I’ve been trying a couple of different things, but it’s weird, you try to get better, but you just go back to what worked before.
“I feel like I’m maturing as a golfer and figuring it out as I go along. It’s been a good season so far, and hopefully I get to continue that.”
While the tour takes a week’s break before the International Series Morocco, Kho heads to Switzerland to play in the Memorial Olivier Barras event at Crans-Sur-Sierre, a qualifier for the Omega European Masters in September.
After that will be final qualifying for the Open.
“I just want to give myself opportunities to play everywhere,” Kho said. “It’s lots of travel, but I definitely enjoy it.”
