Lee Jun-seok takes victory at Hana Bank Invitational, second win on Tour

Golf

Published: 19 Jun. 2022, 16:48 Updated: 19 Jun. 2022, 21:48

Lee Jun-seok takes victory at Hana Bank Invitational, second win on Tour

Lee Jun-seok tees off at the second hole of the third round of the Hana Bank Invitational at Nam Chuncheon Country Club in Chuncheon, Gangwon, on Saturday. [NEWS1]

Korean-born Australian Lee Jun-seok won the Hana Bank Invitational at Nam Chuncheon Country Club in Chuncheon, Gangwon, on Sunday, marking his second win on the KPGA Tour.

The Hana Bank Invitational title was won only after a fierce three-man competition between Lee Jun-seok, Lee Gyu-min and Jung Tea-yang. Lee Jun-seok on Sunday carded a 21-under-par, 267, to clinch his second trophy ever, one stroke over Lee Gyu-min who was looking for his first ever title on the Tour.

Lee Jun-seok and Lee Gyu-min started out the first round tied in second position, carding a six-under-par on Friday. Both golfers were able to cut down four more strokes in the second round to stay tied for second. On moving day, it was Jung who took the top position, carding one bogey and nine birdies on Saturday.

Lee Jun-seok followed one stroke behind while Lee Gyu-min was pushed down to third place.

Jung Tea-yang plays his iron at the 12th hole of the third round of the the Hana Bank Invitational at Nam Chuncheon Country Club in Chuncheon, Gangwon, on Saturday. [NEWS1]

In the final round, Jung quickly fell out of contention for the trophy carding a triple bogey in the par-5, fifth, while Lee Jun-seok and Lee Gyu-min both birdied.

Jung had to tee off three times on the hole after his first and second driver shots went out of bounds.

Despite the difficult situation, Jung kept this head in the game, adding four birdies to card a 70 in the final round. Jung’s finish is his career-best and his first time ever to reach the top 10.

While Lee Gyu-min tried until the very end to keep up with Lee Jun-seok, Lee Jun-seok was able to keep steady form and hold on to the lead until the very end.

The total purse was 1 billion won ($770,000) for the event, and Lee Jun-seok took home 200 million won as the champion.

The Hana Bank Invitational succeeds the Korea-China Tour KEB Hana Bank Invitational, which was held from 2008 to 2010. It was re-established in 2018, and this year marks its fourth anniversary.

In 2019, the competition brought together golfers from nine different countries and tours including from China and Japan and European and Australian Tours. In 2020, the competition was canceled due to Covid-19, but it returned a year later in 2021. This year, the field moved to Nam Chuncheon Country Club in Gangwon, hosting a KPGA top tier event for the first time.

Lee Jun-seok picked up his first-ever KPGA victory at the Kolon Korea Open Golf Championship held at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club in Cheonan, South Chungcheong, on June 27, 2021, winning the national title.

Next week, Lee Jun-seok will be looking to repeat his success at the 2022 Kolon Korea Open Golf Championship as the defending champion.

The Kolon Korea Open had been held annually since 1958. As the 2020 edition was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand was the reigning champion of 2019. Choi Min-chel won the 2018 national title and Chang Yi-keun won the 2017 edition.

In 2017 and 2018, the top two were eligible to compete in the Open Championship, the oldest and one of the most prestigious golf tournaments.

However, Lee Jun-seok was not eligible to play at the 2021 Open Championship because the Open had to forgo the 2020 edition due to Covid-19 and had decided to give the players who were eligible in 2020 a chance to compete in 2021.

“Honestly, I feel like I’m flying,” said Lee Jun-seok on Sunday at a post-tournament interview.

“After winning for the first time last season, I was thirsty for a win. I am so grateful and thrilled that I was able to pull off a win in a relatively short span of time.”

Lee Jun-seok revealed last year that he had undergone a thyroid surgery in the previous winter after having known for two years that he had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. He had continued to play golf without undergoing the surgery fearing that the fatigue from surgery would prevent him from competing.

“I think that’s true,” answered Lee Jun-seok when asked about the reason he seemed tense during the match.

“After my thyroid surgery last year, I feel tired more easily. Also, I had a tight schedule this season and so I tried not to talk and tried to preserve my energy throughout the match.

"I want to thank my mother for raising me," Lee continued. "I want to thank my family for believing in me and supporting me through everything. I’ve still got a long way to go as a golfer, and I will continue to do my best."

The KPGA Tour continues Thursday with the 64th edition of the Kolon Korea Open Golf Championship at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club in Cheonan, South Chungcheong.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]