Byeong Hun An defeated fellow South Korean Tom Kim in a play off at the Genesis Championship to secure his first win on the European circuit in nearly 10 years.
Birdies were coming in right from the start as six players took the lead in one way or another at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club on Sunday.
The carousel at the top of the leaderboard was full of flow until Kim missed one shot and sank the last putt when An went for bogey on the front hole.
Both reached eight feet for birdie putts, and An capitalized on the pressure by finishing his backhand effort close to Kim at 17 under.
Kim needed to sink his own to win by one shot, but he went wide and the two home favorites were forced into a play-off.
They both played dangerous second shots on the last five, but Kim was left in a dangerous position which led to him hitting the big tee and his third and bogey.
An had two putts for the title on home soil and needed just one to claim his first victory on the DP World Tour since lifting the 2015 BMW PGA Championship.
TIME-BASED SUCCESS
UA said: “It’s been a long time since I last won this trip. Tom and I had great support this week and although it was a shame that someone lost, I’m happy to be the one holding the trophy in front of the home fans.
“Tom and I had a big fight today. I just had a bit of luck to come out on top.”
Ricardo Gouveia, who started the week in 154th place in the Race to Dubai Rankings, recorded his first top 20 finish of the campaign from third place at 16 under to earn his playing rights for next season.
Antoine Rozner shot back, Guido Migliozzi fired a flawless 65 to stay at 14 under, while Francesco Laporta, first-round leader Ivan Cantero and South Africa’s Casey Jarvis were two back.
Cantero is another who started the tournament below the cutoff in 117th place, but kept his head above water by leading the first round in Asia. The Spaniard maintained his good start by carding four consecutive under-par rounds as he returned home tied for sixth and climbed into the top 100 in the Race to Dubai Rankings.
PENGE HOLDS THE CARD
Marco Penge endured an emotional rollercoaster all week, which began when he needed a birdie on the final Friday to make the cutline. He duly committed to improving his chances – he started the week in 115th place – before a flawless 67 in the final round saw him finish tied for 22nd and secure his card.
Those who finished just short of the cut-off number 114 in the Race to Dubai included China’s Ashun Wu, Spain’s Santiago Tarri0, Scotland’s David Law and England’s Eddie Pepperell.
Pepperell, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, shot a 68 to finish tied for 34th, but the 33-year-old may need a top-15 finish in Korea to secure his card next season.
PAIN IN THE EYES UP THE MOUTHS
Søren Kjeldsen closed out his final senior season in Europe with a round of 71 to sit seven under for the tournament as the 49-year-old Dane begins a transition to senior golf on both the Legends Tour and the next PGA Tour Champions. a year.
More than a quarter of a century since his debut on the European Tour in 1998, he has retained his playing rights for 26 consecutive seasons and won four times.
Earlier this season he became the fourth player to play 700 games or more, joining David Howell, Miguel Angel Jiménez and Sam Torrance. On Sunday, he completed what would have been his 712th start, leaving only Howell (725) and Angel Jiménez (723) with more.
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