Japan’s Kosuke Suzuki is impressively setting the pace in the Shinhan Donghae Open after firing an eight-under-par 64 to take the halfway lead on 13-under.
He leads by three from Korean Galam Jeon and Brad Kennedy from Australia, who both fired equally outstanding 65s, and four from Naoyuki Kataoka from Japan and Korean Jaewoong Eom – the joint-first round leader.
Kataoka returned a 67 and Eom a 70, here at Ocean Course at Club72 in Incheon – in an event tri-sanctioned by the Asian, Japan and Korean Tours.
Filipino Miguel Tabuena, with fellow Tour professional Nick Fung from Malaysia caddying for him, returned his second successive 68 and is in group of players on eight under in joint sixth.
Suzuki, a professional for three years and in pursuit of his first win in the pro game, took to the front in spectacular fashion. He made a birdie on the fourth, eagled the next and then made two more birdies in-a-row, before making three birdies on-the-trot from 11.
He dropped his only shot of the day when he made bogey on 16 before completing one of the finest rounds of his career with a birdie on the last.
“It feels like it’s the first time I played good golf in a while,” said the 24-year-old, whose best ever result came at the Asia Pacific Open Golf Championship Diamond Cup in 2022 on home soil, when he tied second as an amateur.
“I just want to continue getting birdies and improving my score. Not conscious of the leaderboard; I’ll just play my own golf.”
Jeon won the Korean PGA Championship this year, for his third win on the Korean PGA Tour, and also crushed the front nine with an eagle and three birdies. Three birdies and a bogey on the homeward half completed two days of great work.
He said: “Yesterday was a struggle as I started in the afternoon, and it was raining a lot. I just tried to think my way around carefully and keep my swing as smooth as possible. That strategy worked well, and I am now in a strong position.”
This year the 28-year-old has opened up about how nervous he gets playing in events and how it means he get very little sleep, but his golf was wide awake today.
“The Shinhan Donghae Open is a traditional tournament that everyone wants to win,” he added.
“If I win, I can play on the Asian and Japan Tours, like Guntaek Koh, who won this tournament last year. I think if I win, I’ll do the same thing as Koh”.
Kennedy, a regular on the Japan Tour who turned 50 this year, charged through with a brilliant back nine of five-under-par 31, and was bogey-free all day.
Tabuena was also bogey-free, with two birdies on each nine.
“It was a good round, it was pretty solid tee to green; didn’t get myself into trouble,” said the three-time winner on the Asian Tour.
“The game is in a good spot. It was nice to see some good results the last few events. It is a very important time, it will get busy, so I am happy with where the game is.”
It’s only the second time close-friend Fung has caddied for him, with the duo having worked together at US Open sectional qualifiers this year, when Tabuena came close to making it through.
His normal caddie Clayton Besset could not make it this week as his mother is unwell.
Said Tabuena: “Nick was nice enough to step in for Clayton, who will resume action in Taiwan. This team with Nick is pretty good. He is very firm, and he is very confident with the lies on the greens, which was a big aspect for me the last few months.”
Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa, a 19-time winner in Japan including this year’s Japan PGA Championship, returned a 69 and is in a group of players on seven-under, that also includes this year’s Kolon Korea Open champion Minkyu Kim, who shot a 70.
Defending champion Guntaek Koh from Korea fired a 72 and missed the halfway cut, made at three under, by two.
Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai, who Koh beat in a play-off last year, returned a 69 and will also not be here at the weekend as he finished two under.
Scores after round 2 of the Shinhan Donghae Open, being played at Ocean Course at Club72 – a par-72, 7,204-yard course (am – denotes amateur):
131 – Kosuke Suzuki (JPN) 67-64.
134 – Galam Jeon (KOR) 69-65, Brad Kennedy (AUS) 69-65.
135 – Naoyuki Kataoka (JPN) 68-67, Jaewoong Eom (KOR) 65-70.
136 – Tomoyo Ikemura (JPN) 65-71, Miguel Tabuena (PHI) 68-68, Kyungnam Kang (KOR) 67-69, Taiki Yoshida (JPN) 68-68.
137 – Yujiro Ohori (JPN) 69-68, Ryo Ishikawa (JPN) 68-69, Hanbyeol Kim (KOR) 69-68, Tomoharu Otsuki (JPN) 69-68, Sangpil Yoon (KOR) 70-67, Shaun Norris (RSA) 68-69, Minkyu Kim (KOR) 67-70, Daijiro Izumida (JPN) 72-65, Younghan Song (KOR) 68-69, Mikumu Horikawa (JPN) 72-65, Seunghyuk Kim (KOR) 70-67, Todd Baek (USA) 71-66.
138 – Riki Kawamoto (JPN) 68-70, Yubin Jang (KOR) 71-67, Hanmil Jung (KOR) 67-71, Travis Smyth (AUS) 68-70, Seonghyeon Jeon (KOR) 69-69, Ian Snyman (RSA) 70-68, Yongjun Bae (KOR) 68-70, Dongmin Kim (KOR) 70-68, Kensei Hirata (JPN) 71-67, Taehoon Ok (KOR) 70-68, Wooyoung Cho (KOR) 71-67, Yusaku Hosono (JPN) 72-66, Taiga Nagano (JPN) 70-68, Lee Chieh-po (TPE) 70-68.
139 – Takashi Ogiso (JPN) 71-68, Dongmin Lee (KOR) 72-67, Takahiro Hataji (JPN) 70-69, Yusaku Miyazato (JPN) 71-68, Jaekyeong Lee (KOR) 71-68, Chanmin Jung (KOR) 68-71, Rattanon Wannasrichan (THA) 66-73, Sanghee Lee (KOR) 74-65, Sihwan Kim (USA) 72-67, Sungho Yun (KOR) 72-67, Yosuke Tsukada (JPN) 68-71, Jinho Choi (KOR) 71-68, Taeho Kim (KOR) 71-68, Chang Wei-lun (TPE) 70-69.
140 – Richard T. Lee (CAN) 69-71, Suteepat Prateeptienchai (THA) 69-71, Seungtaek Lee (KOR) 71-69, Seungbin Choi (KOR) 69-71, Bio Kim (KOR) 70-70, Kazuki Higa (JPN) 70-70, Shunya Takeyasu (JPN) 73-67, Chonlatit Chuenboonngam (THA) 72-68, Poom Saksansin (THA) 72-68, Junggon Hwang (KOR) 70-70.
141 – Kyongjun Moon (KOR) 68-73, Nitithorn Thippong (THA) 70-71, Gyumin Lee (KOR) 68-73, Sarit Suwannarut (THA) 72-69, Gunn Charoenkul (THA) 70-71, Koshiro Maeda (JPN) 71-70, Yosuke Asaji (JPN) 71-70, Junghwan Lee (KOR) 72-69, Shintaro Kobayashi (JPN) 73-68.
142 – Seonghyeon Kim (KOR) 75-67, Phachara Khongwatmai (THA) 73-69, Hakhyung Kim (KOR) 69-73, Hongtaek Kim (KOR) 70-72, Taihei Sato (JPN) 68-74, Sungho Lee (KOR) 70-72, Berry Henson (USA) 68-74, Ryutaro Nagano (JPN) 70-72, Inhoi Hur (KOR) 72-70, Anthony Quayle (AUS) 67-75, Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA) 75-67.
143 – David Drysdale (SCO) 71-72, Jeongwoo Ham (KOR) 72-71, Guntaek Koh (KOR) 71-72, Hiroshi Iwata (JPN) 74-69, Jazz Janewattananond (THA) 71-72, K.T. Kim (KOR) 71-72, Heemin Chang (KOR) 69-74, Sadom Kaewkanjana (THA) 72-71, Hyunwoo Ryu (KOR) 75-68, Minchel Choi (KOR) 73-70.
144 – Junhong Park (KOR) 70-74, Kevin Yuan (AUS) 73-71, Jiho Yang (KOR) 74-70, Sungyeol Kwon (KOR) 68-76, Soomin Lee (KOR) 72-72, Kodai Ichihara (JPN) 75-69, Changwoo Lee (KOR) 73-71.
145 – Youngjoon Choi (KOR) 70-75, Doyeob Mun (KOR) 71-74.
146 – Dongeun Kim (KOR) 71-75, Seukhyun Baek (KOR) 73-73, Settee Prakongvech (THA) 73-73, Mingyu Cho (KOR) 70-76, Yuki Inamori (JPN) 74-72, Sanghyun Park (KOR) 74-72, Hyungjoon Lee (KOR) 77-69, Eunshin Park (KOR) 73-73.
147 – Brendan Jones (AUS) 72-75, Seungsu Han (USA) 75-72, Hideto Tanihara (JPN) 74-73, Karandeep Kochhar (IND) 78-69.
148 – Minhyeok Yu (am, KOR) 74-74, Steve Lewton (ENG) 75-73, Justin De Los Santos (PHI) 76-72, Minsu Kim #921 (KOR) 72-76, Mikiya Akutsu (JPN) 76-72.
149 – Chikkarangappa S. (IND) 71-78, Yonggu Shin (CAN) 73-76, David Boriboonsub (THA) 68-81, Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 74-75.
150 – Taehoon Kim (KOR) 76-74, Yuta Kinoshita (JPN) 73-77, Junseok Lee (AUS) 76-74, Chanwoo Kim (KOR) 74-76, Jbe Kruger (RSA) 76-74.
151 – Wonjoon Lee (AUS) 75-76.
152 – Rashid Khan (IND) 75-77.
153 – Hyungseok Seo (KOR) 81-72, Jinsung Kim (KOR) 76-77.
155 – Yeongsu Kim (KOR) 81-74.
END.
-3 (141) was the final cut, 68 players made the cut
