Two-Stroke Victory at Dong-A Membership Group Open
First Win of the Season, 13th Career Title Celebration
Closing in on the 6 Billion Won Career Earnings Milestone
Veteran golfer Sanghyun Park, born in 1983, delivered a performance that defied his age.
On August 31, at Gangnam 300 Country Club (par 70, 6,863 yards) in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, Park shot a 2-under-par 68 in the final fourth round of the KPGA Tour Dong-A Membership Group Open (total prize money: 700 million won), securing a two-stroke victory with a total of 21-under-par 259. This marks his first win of the season and his 13th career victory, coming 1 year and 10 months after his triumph at the 2023 Genesis Championship.
Sanghyun Park is smiling brightly holding the trophy after winning the Dong-A Membership Group Open. Photo by KPGA
At 42 years old, Park has now added two wins in his 40s. Only five players have more KPGA Tour victories than Park: Sangho Choi (43 wins), Namshin Park (20 wins), Jangsang Han (19 wins), K.J. Choi (17 wins), and Kwangsoo Choi (15 wins). With the winner’s prize of 140 million won, Park increased his career earnings to 5,657,356,319 won. As the first and only player to surpass 5 billion won in career earnings on the KPGA Tour, Park now aims to become the first to reach 6 billion won in career earnings this season. He needs an additional 342,643,681 won to reach that milestone.
Park’s 259 strokes surpassed the KPGA Tour’s 72-hole scoring record of 260, set by Igon Jang at the 2017 Tee-Up G-Swing Mega Open, by one stroke. However, this record will not be officially recognized, as the tournament applied a preferred lie rule, allowing players to lift, clean, and place their balls within one club length on the wet fairways.
Starting the day with a five-shot lead, Park carded four birdies and two bogeys. After cruising with birdies on holes 2 and 4, he made his first bogey on the par-4 6th after sending his tee shot below the left hill. He recovered a shot by landing his third shot within 1 meter of the hole on the par-5 9th, but then made a mistake with a three-putt bogey on the par-4 10th.
His choice of putter paid off. On the par-3 12th, Park’s tee shot landed on the fringe, but he rolled in a 6-meter putt and let out a roar. From the par-4 13th through the final par-5 18th, he calmly made par on each of the last six holes, firmly holding his position at the top of the leaderboard. He exclaimed, "I am so happy. I stayed focused until the end, and I feel great to finish with such a good result."
Park said, "As I continue to play in tournaments, I believe I can eventually reach 6 billion or even 7 billion won in career earnings. If I can maintain this form, I think I’ll be able to share more good news within this year." He added, "If I win five more times, I will reach 20 career victories. I will work hard to secure a permanent tour card."
Taehoon Lee (Canada) made a remarkable leap to second place (19-under-par 261) by shooting nine under par. Seungbin Choi and Minhyeok Song tied for third (16-under-par 264), with Doyeob Moon in fifth place (15-under-par 265). Yongjun Bae, Donghwan Lee, and Seungtaek Oh finished tied for sixth (14-under-par 266). Jinho Choi, Taehun Kim, Kyungnam Kang, and others tied for 13th (12-under-par 268).
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