One step away from their first gold in 13 years. The Hangzhou Asian Games men’s golf team is well on its
way to defending its team gold medal. Lim Sung-jae (25) led the team in the third round.
South Korea shaved 14 strokes off its total in the third round of men’s golf at the Hangzhou Asian Games
on Tuesday at the West Lake International Golf Club (Par 72) in Hangzhou, China, to post a medalist total
of 58-under par. It is 14 strokes behind second-place Thailand. In the team competition, the team score
is calculated by combining the scores of the top three players from each country in each round.
Im Sung-jae in action during the third round.
Among the South Korean players, Im Sung-jae had the best score of the day at 6-under par. With four
birdies on the front nine and four birdies on the back nine, he was tied for second at one point before
making a double bogey on the par-4 18th hole. He dropped six strokes on the day to finish the third
round in a tie for fourth place at 19-under par 197. He is five strokes off the lead with Hong Kong’s Tai Chi
Ko (23). Given the best round of the tournament was a 12-under-par 60 (Tai Chi Ko in the second round), he could be in contention for an upset on the final day.
Amateur Jang Yubin (21)
Who was tied for second the day before, also shaved four strokes off his score to sit in a tie for third place
at 20-under par 196. He has the highest individual ranking among Korean players. Kim Si-woo (28), the
eldest brother of Kim, is tied for eighth at 16-under-par 200, while Cho Woo-young (22), an amateur, is
tied for 11th at 13-under-par 203 after shooting a 1-over-par on the day.
In the team competition, the gold medal is virtually assured. For second-ranked Thailand to upset the
standings in the final four rounds, its top three players would have to shave more than 14 strokes off the
Korean trio, which is a tall order. Should South Korea finish on top of the team competition, it would be
their first gold medal in 13 years since Guangzhou in 2010. They previously won silver in Incheon in 2014 and bronze in Jakarta-Palembang in 2018.
Siu Kim in action during the third round.
Meanwhile, in the women’s golf competition earlier in the day, Kim Min-sol (17) shaved three strokes off
her score to sit in a tie for fifth place at 10-under par 206, the highest finish by a South Korean player. Yoo
Hyun-jo (18) shaved six strokes off her score with an eagle, six birdies and two bogeys on the day to
jump from 15th to a tie for ninth. The team is in fourth place at 20-under par, nine shots behind first-place India (29-under). 스포츠토토맨
