Asian Tour International Series Oman Final Day
This is the prowess of Kim Bio.
On the 12th (local time), Kim Bio surged with a 4-under-par in the final 4th round of the Asian Tour International Series Oman (total prize money $2 million) held at Al Mouj Golf Course in Muscat, Oman (par 72, 7,438 yards), climbing to a tie for 11th place (1-under-par 287). He completely wiped away the disappointment of missing the cut at last week's Asian Tour season opener, the Saudi International.
Starting from a tie for 41st place, Kim Bio recorded 7 birdies and 3 bogeys. He struggled to lower his score, exchanging 2 birdies and 2 bogeys over 10 holes, but then made consecutive birdies on holes 11 and 12, followed by 'stepping stone birdies' on holes 14 and 16. A bogey on the 17th hole was recovered with a birdie on the 18th hole (both par 4) to finish the tournament.
Kim Bio entered the Asian Tour through the Qualifying (Q) School in 2020 and played his first full season last year. He earned $599,609 (approximately 760 million KRW) in prize money, including a victory at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open held in Korea, and was crowned the Asian Tour Rookie of the Year. Kim Bio is the second Korean player to receive the Asian Tour Rookie of the Year award, following Park Sang-hyun in 2018.
Takumi Kanaya (Japan) added 1-under-par to achieve a commanding 4-stroke victory (10-under-par 278). Kanaya turned professional in 2020 and has won 3 times on the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO). He is currently ranked 169th in the world. Barry Henson (USA) finished tied for 2nd place (6-under-par 282), while Sergio Garcia (Spain) and Joaquin Niemann (Chile), both affiliated with LIV Golf, tied for 5th place (3-under-par 285).
From Korea, Seo Yo-seop improved his position by 2 strokes to tie for 17th place (1-over-par 289). Bae Sang-moon struggled with a 3-over-par round, dropping from a tie for 21st place the previous day to a tie for 36th place (4-over-par 292). Park Sang-hyun tied for 52nd (6-over-par 294), Moon Kyung-jun was 68th (11-over-par 299), Lee Seung-taek tied for 73rd (14-over-par 302), Kim Min-gyu was 75th (17-over-par 305), and Jang Yi-geun finished 78th (22-over-par 310).
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