'18-year-old Young Gun' Kim Juhyung 6-under-par "Youngest Win GO"... Park Eunsin Leads

KPGA Gunsan CC Open First Day Joint 2nd Place Start, 'Gunsan Man' Joo Heung-cheol Tied 4th at 5 Under Par

Kim Juhyung is teeing off at the 9th hole on the first day of the KPGA Gunsan CC Open. Photo by KPGA

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] The early sprint of the '18-year-old young gun' Kim Joo-hyung (18, CJ Logistics).

On the 9th, at Gunsan Golf Club Lead & Lake Course (Par 71, 7,130 yards) in Gunsan City, Jeonbuk, the first day of the KPGA Korean Tour 2020 Season Round 2 KPGA Gunsan CC Open (total prize money 500 million KRW), he posted 6 under par to take a tie for 2nd place, one stroke behind the leader. Park Eun-shin (30) surged with 7 under par to dominate the top of the leaderboard. Lee Kyu-min (20) is tied for 2nd, and 'Gunsan native' Joo Heung-chul (39) is tied for 4th at 5 under par, aiming to reclaim the top spot for the first time in four years since 2016.

It is noteworthy that if Kim Joo-hyung wins, at 18 years and 21 days old, he will break the youngest record set by Lee Sang-hee (28) at the 2011 NH Nonghyup Open (19 years, 6 months, and 10 days). This adds to the nature of a revenge match after losing in a playoff on the final day of the Woosung General Construction Aramir CC Busan Gyeongnam Open that ended on the 5th. He dramatically forced a playoff by making an eagle with a '2-on 1-putt' on the final 18th hole (par 5), but was left bitter after Lee Ji-hoon730 (34) made a winning birdie on the first hole of the playoff.

Kim Joo-hyung recorded 7 birdies and 1 bogey that day. He opened the scoring early with 'stepping stone birdies' on holes 10 and 12, recovered from a bogey on the first hole of the back nine (par 4) with consecutive birdies on holes 4 and 5, and finished brilliantly by sweeping three consecutive birdies on holes 7 to 9. "I was satisfied with all my shots, including tee shots, iron shots, short game, and putting," he cheered, adding, "As the game opened up in the latter half, I scored better than expected."

For Park Eun-shin, this is a golden opportunity to achieve his first victory since his debut in 2010. He has a unique background, having served as a tank operator in an army frontline division during his military service. He has been active in both Korea and Japan, and last year also secured his 2020 season card by finishing 2nd in the December Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO) Qualifying Tournament (QT). He expressed confidence, saying, "During the break due to COVID-19, I focused on weight training to build stamina that would last through all four rounds."

Joo Heung-chul is a player to watch. Interestingly, out of his three career wins, two were at Gunsan CC in 2014 and 2016. Kim Kyung-tae (34) positioned himself tied for 8th at 4 under par, highlighted by a hole-in-one on the 13th hole (par 3, 219 yards). He received two health check-up vouchers worth about 4 million KRW due to injury. On the other hand, Lee Ji-hoon730 remained tied for 69th at even par, making the challenge for 'back-to-back wins' difficult. 'Fisherman swing' Choi Ho-sung (47) also fell back to tied 142nd at 5 over par.