Go Gun-taek (Daebo Engineering & Construction) succeeded in winning the first championship in his life.
Guntaek Go held the opening match of the 2023 KPGA (Korea Professional Golf) Korean Tour, the DB Insurance Promy Open (total prize money of 700 million won/winner’s prize of 100 million 4 Ten million won) In the final round, I wrote down 7 under par 65 strokes. It was a final total of 20 under par 268 strokes.
Go Gun-taek, a former national team player, has been active on the KPGA Korean Tour since 2020, but he only raised expectations by finishing 3rd in the Genesis Championship in his rookie season, but was far from winning afterwards.
But this tournament was definitely different. Go Gun-taek tied for the lead with a 5 under par 67 in the first round, and tied for 6th place with a 2 under par in the second round. It was three strokes from the lead. In the 3rd round, a moving day, Go Gun-taek, who reduced 6 strokes and approached the leader Seo Yo-seop by 1 stroke, finally lifted the championship cup by reducing 7 strokes in the final round.
Go Gun-taek stood shoulder to shoulder with leading players of the tour, such as Seo Yo-seop and Park Sang-hyun, to the 10th hole (par 4), where the battle was unfolding, and tied for the lead. After that, variables came into being. The game was stopped for over an hour due to lightning strikes ahead of the tee shot on hole 11 (par 5).
After resuming his breath, Ko Gun-taek saved par on two consecutive holes and took a chance, then played a birdie show on three consecutive holes from the 13th hole (par 4) to rise to the sole lead. Park Sang-hyun tied for the lead with a birdie on the 16th hole (par 4), but Ko Gun-taek regained his strength. He caught a birdie on the 17th hole (par 3) and pushed Park Sang-hyun, who lost a stroke to the same hole, by two strokes. It was a crucial scene.
Ko Gun-taek, who won the championship after participating in 49 tournaments after his debut on the KPGA Korean Tour, was even given a 3-year seed on the tour. Go Gun-taek said, “I really wanted to win this season, but I’m happy that I won the championship sooner than I thought. I’m still confused.”
Go Gun-taek, who said he increased his average drive distance by 10 meters through field training in the U.S. ahead of the season, said, “In the meantime, both shots and putts have been lacking. I collapsed because I couldn’t control my mind while playing in the lead game for the past three years. Today, I supplement these parts. “I wanted to do it. Also, I played safe with the goal of par, and the frequent fade shots worked. I was able to set the ball well on the hard green and caught a lot of birdies.”
Go Gun-taek,스포츠토토 who spent the game in a daze when the match was stopped by a lightning strike, looked back on the situation, saying, “The flow was a little off, but it seems to have flowed after the birdie on the 13th hole.”
Ko Gun-taek, who managed to win his first championship in his life, gave strength to his voice, saying, “Golf John County Ora in Jeju, where the tournament will be held next week, is a place where I have played many games. Now, winning multiple wins is my goal.” He was confident with the spirit of victory.
