GolfPlus- Dec19 Digital Edition (Dec 19) | Page 31

ON THE ASIAN TO UR
KOREAN KIM GRABS
PANASONIC OPEN INDIA TITLE
Chikkarangapa S from India
Joohyung Kim, Panasonic Open India 2019 Champion
here was heartbreak for Shiv
Kapur at the very last hole
as he fell agonizingly short
of becoming the ¿ rst-ever
repeat winner of the $400,000
Panasonic Open India.
Kapur double bogeyed the 18th to ¿ nish
with 70 at 12-under, as Korea’s Joohyung
Kim, who ¿ nished an hour before the Indian,
shot seven-under 65 to reach 13-under. That
clubhouse target also became the winning
score. With his maiden Asian Tour win,
Joohyung also became the second youngest
Asian Tour winner. Joohyung shot seven
birdies in ¿ rst 10 holes and then parred the
remaining eighth to ¿ nish at 65 in windy
conditions.Kapur double bogeyed the last
after hooking his drive and fell from sole lead
at 14-under to 12-under and a tie for second
with fellow Indian S Chikkarangappa. Kapur
was second for the second time in as many
weeks.
The 17-year-old Joohyung earned his
Asian Tour card for the remainder of the 2019
season after claiming three wins on the Asian
Development Tour (ADT) this year. He will
now have an exemption for next season, too.
The Korean was making what was only
his third start on the Asian Tour this year.
But he produced another grandstand
performance that belies his age with rounds
of 70, 68 and 65 for a winning total of
13-under-par 203.
Joohyung said, “I’m really speechless. It
has been a dream of mine to play on the Asian
Tour ever since I was young. And it’s really
wonderful to come here, be in contention and
win. I cannot describe the feeling now. I’m
Shiv Kapur from India
still trying to learn every single step of the
way.”“Last week, I was one off the lead with
two holes to play. But it didn’t quite work out
the way I wanted then. So, going into today,
I just tried to give myself as many chances as
I could. I did that on the front-nine but I kind
of struggled in my back-nine, knowing I was
in contention. It was really windy today and I
scrambled quite well. It was not easy to shoot
a 65 under these conditions. But I managed to
do it and now, I’m a winner!.”
Chikka, also Tied-second, said, “I’ve
been superb on the par-5s this week as my
strategy to lay up within my favourite yardage
with my approach shots worked wonders.
I was 10-under on the par-5s through the
tournament. My hitting and putting were very
consistent but my wedge-play was my only
weak link this week.”
GolfPlus
DECEMBER
2019
35