‘Genius golfer’ Kim Joo-hyung (19) made the best performance on the American Professional Golf (PGA) tour.
Kim Joo-hyung hit a 5 under par 67 in the final round of the Puerto Rico Open on the PGA Tour held at Grand Reserve CC (par 72, 7506 yards) in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico on the 1st (Korean time). Kim Joo-hyung, who recorded 277 strokes at an 11-under par, ended the tournament with a tie for 15th.
Kim Joo-hyung recorded his personal best performance and first top 20 after making his 6th appearance on the PGA Tour. The previous best was a tie for 33rd at the Corales Punta Cana Resort & Club Championship in September last year. Kim Joo-hyung set the record for the second youngest ever to win the Asian Tour in 2019, and won the youngest Korean Tour ever (18 years and 21 days) at the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour Gunsan CC Open in July last year. Kim Joo-hyung, who was ranked in the top 100 in the world rankings by winning the Gunsan CC Open, made his debut on the PGA Tour at the PGA Championship in the major tournament in August of that year. Kim Joo-hyung is constantly knocking on the door of the PGA tour through sponsor recommendation and Monday qualifiers.
Brandon Grace (32, South Africa) won the championship. Grace, who was tied for 3rd place by one stroke behind the lead until the third round, was behind one stroke behind lead Jonathan Vegas (36, Venezuela) until the 16th hole. Grace’s shot from the shallow bunker in front of the 17th hole (par 4) green went into the hole as it was and became an eagle, becoming the sole leader for the first shot. Vegas, who played in the previous group, tied for first place with Grace with a birdie on the 18th hole (par 5), but Grace also captured the birdie in the last hole and won a thrilling one-stroke victory.
Grace, who won two PGA Tour titles five years after RBC Heritage in April 2016, won the prize money of $540,000 (about KRW 600 million). Grace said, “When I took a bunker shot at the 17th hole, I remembered my father who passed away from a novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) in January this year.” .
Reporter Kim Soon-shin [email protected]
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