6 under par amid strong winds, one stroke ahead of Jung Jae-hyun and Jeon Sung-hyun
Player of the Year contender Shin Sang-hun slides to 40th, Jung Chan-min tied 28th
Hwang Jae-min held the lead for a second consecutive day at the KPGA Tour Championship, the season finale of the KPGA Tour with a purse of 1.1 billion won ($820,000), as he chases his first victory on the regular tour.
Hwang carded an even-par 72 on Saturday at the Valley-Teddy Course (par 72) of Teddy Valley Golf & Resort in Seogwipo, Jeju Island, posting three birdies, one bogey and one double bogey in the third round.
His three-round total of 6-under-par 210 kept him in sole possession of the lead despite winds gusting up to 10 meters per second, extending the advantage he had held since Friday. Jung Jae-hyun and Jeon Sung-hyun share second place at 5-under-par 211, one stroke back.
Hwang, who turns 40 on Thursday, made his KPGA Tour debut in 2011 and is making his 212th start on the regular tour. He topped the KPGA Tour qualifying tournament last year and has a best finish of tied sixth at the Founders Cup this season.
Hwang picked up birdies on hole 2 (par 4) and hole 4 (par 5) but gave back strokes with a double bogey on hole 5 (par 4) and a bogey on hole 8 (par 5), finishing the front nine one over. He struggled to make gains on the back nine and briefly shared the lead with Jung, but reclaimed sole possession on the final hole when he stuck his second shot to within 1.2 meters and converted the birdie on hole 18 (par 4).
"Yesterday's second round felt like everything just fell into place, like I was playing a video game, but today I really had to grind through every shot," Hwang said. "Every hole was so difficult." On the prospect of his first career win, he added: "Rather than getting nervous thinking about winning on the final day, I want to stay as relaxed as possible and go out in a good frame of mind."
Jung Jae-hyun, who finished runner-up at last week's Lexus Masters after a playoff, carded one under on Saturday with three birdies and two bogeys. Jeon Sung-hyun moved into a share of second with a three-under 69, posting six birdies against three bogeys. Both players said they were satisfied with how steadily they managed their games despite the strong winds.
Kim Min-gyu, a three-time winner on the KPGA Tour, fired a bogey-free four-birdie round to reach 4-under-par 212 through three rounds, joining Jeong Han-mil in a share of fourth place — two strokes behind Hwang.
In the Player of the Year race, Genesis Points leader Shin Sang-hun had a damaging day, dropping five strokes to fall to 40th place at 6-over-par 222. The decisive blow came on hole 15 (par 5), where his tee shot was ruled a lost ball, leading to a quadruple bogey.
Jung Chan-min, third in the Genesis Points standings, also struggled, losing three strokes to sit at 4-over-par 220 in a share of 28th. With Jang Yu-bin, second in the standings, disqualified in the second round, the Player of the Year battle between Shin and Jung will go down to the final round.
yjc@heraldcorp.com
