Kepka who’resurrected’ wins the turnaround with two Eagles… 8 wins in total
Lee Gyeong-hoon (30) competed for the championship all four rounds for the first time since advancing to the American Professional Golf (PGA) Tour, and won the runner-up.
On the 8th (Korean time), Lee Gyeong-hoon caught 4 birdies in the final round of the PGA Tour Waste Management Phoenix Open (total prize money of $7.3 million) held at TPC Scottsdale (par 71) in Scottsdale, Arizona, and reduced 3 strokes. .
Lee Kyung-hoon, who recorded 266 strokes at 18 under par in the fourth round, took second place, just one stroke behind Brooks Kepka (USA).
Starting from the 2018-2019 season and entering the third season, Lee Gyeong-hoon missed the first victory he had been looking forward to, but achieved his best performance after advancing to the PGA Tour.
Previously, Kyung-Hoon Lee’s personal highest ranking was tied for third place at the Zurich Classic in April 2019.
The Zurich Classic is a group of 2 players, so in terms of individual performance, the RSM Classic tied for fifth place in November 2019 is the highest.
Lee Gyeong-hoon, who was eliminated six cuts in the 12 competitions held earlier this season, and ranked 19th in the Sony Open jointly, took the opportunity to rebound by striving to secure a tour card next year with this runner-up.
Lee Gyeong-hoon, who received 245 points in the FedEx Cup, jumped to 48th in the FedEx Cup ranking, and the world ranking jumped from 263th to 142th last week.
He also won a huge prize money of 6,497,700 dollars (about 727.27 million won).
In particular, Lee Gyeong-hoon gained a valuable experience of running at the top for four days, rather than rising to the top with a single day.
Lee Kyung-hoon, who took the lead in the final round with a tie for third place by three strokes, jumped into a full-fledged championship competition with the second hole (par 4) birdie.
Lee Gyeong-hoon, who seemed to lose the power of the lead chase by accidentally losing one stroke at the 11th hole (par 4) tee shot after a continuous par march of 8 holes, puts an 8m chip shot into the hole in the 12th hole (par 3) to overcome the crisis. Dunney made a 1m birdie chance at hole 13 (par 5) and caught up with one stroke in the lead.
Lee Gyeong-hoon, who succeeded in putting a 4m birdie putt on the 15th hole (par 4) and jumped to the joint lead, climbed to second place again by catching a 1.5m birdie in the 17th hole (par 4), where Kepka caught the Eagle by two strokes.
However, Buddy Putt, who tried at a distance of 10m from the 18th hole (par 4), had to be satisfied with the 1st hitting 2nd place as the hole went slightly away.
Lee Kyung-hoon said, “I was nervous, but it was fun,” he said. “I learned a lot, so I want to win without missing this opportunity next time.”
In the fall of 2019, Kepka, who was unable to achieve such achievements due to rehabilitation after knee surgery, rose to a record of 8 wins after 1 year and 6 months after conquering the World Golf Championship (WGC) FedEx St. Jude Invitational in July 2019.
The Phoenix Open, which announced the resurgence, was where Kepka won the first PGA Tour title in 2015.
Kepka, who started the final round five strokes behind the lead group, cut six strokes to complete a reverse win.
Kepka put in an 8m eagle putt on hole 3 (par 5), and caught the eagle with a 25m chip shot in hole 17 (par 4), splitting the game with two eagles a day.
Zander Chopley (USA), who hit an even par 71, tied for second place with Lee Kyung-hoon.
Chopley is runner-up for the second consecutive week.
Lim Seong-jae (23) reduced 6 strokes to a tie for 17th place (12 under par 272 shots), while Kim Si-woo (26) hit 1 under par 70 hits to remain tied for 50th place (7 under par 277 shots).
Ahn Byung-hoon (30) was tied for 53rd (6 under par 279 strokes).
‘Golden Boy’ Jordan Spice (USA), who foretold a resurgence by driving 10 under par in the 3rd round, fell to 4th place (17 under par 267), sluggish with 1 over par 72.
54-year-old Steve Stricker (USA), who challenged the oldest PGA Tour championship, struck a four-under-par 67 and showed off a joint fourth place with Spice.
/yunhap news