Fifteen-year-old amateur star Seonghyeon An is the surprise early leader at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open, on Thursday at Namseoul Country Club in Seoul, Korea.
The Korean national team player fired a first-round 5-under par 66 for the clubhouse lead on a weather effected day, when lightning and rain caused significant delays. Seventy two players were unable to complete their rounds and will return early tomorrow morning.
Jaewoong Eom from Korea is in outright second place after a 67.
His compatriots Baekjun Kim, Donghwan Lee, Jaeho Kim, and Yeonggyu Park are next best placed with 68s – in what is the Asian Tour’s first visit of the year to Korea.
An was in the second group out on tee 10 and was in the lead on four under after 11 holes before a nearly four-hour delay caused by lightning brought the event to a standstill. Played was stopped mid morning and resumed at after lunch.
The delay did little to stop An’s momentum. He had five birdies and dropped one shot before the break and when he returned he finished off his round with a birdie and six pars. Showing maturity beyond his years he got up and down for pars on seven and eight before narrowly missing a four-foot birdie putt on his last after another excellent chip.
He said: “It’s my third appearance this year and I’m always nervous every time I come out and today was no different, but I just wanted to play my best and I think I did a good job. I want to play harder in the second round to get through qualifying and do my best in the main draw.”
An has been making waves over the past few years.
In 2022 he became the youngest player to make the cut on the Korean PGA Tour, when he was 13 years old and four months at the Bizplay-Electronic times Open.
And last year he made history by becoming the first Korean to win The R&A Junior Open – a title won by American Patrick Reed in 2006. He was also fifth in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship last season.
He admitted to drawing inspiration from this year’s Master champion.
“I’ve been watching Rory McIlroy’s grand slam recently,” he added. “I’ve been thinking a lot about how I want to be like him. It’s good to see that even when you fail, you keep trying and succeed.”
When asked if he felt his game recently had not been his best he responded: “My shots have been a little shaky lately. I’ve been struggling to get a grip. My tee shots and iron shots have not been going the way I wanted and I was missing a lot. I’ve been working a lot on my iron shots, and it is starting to work.”
There is a long way to go before a winner is crowned on Sunday but the young maestro will attempt to become only the third amateur to win what is one of Korea’s most prestigious titles. Korean amateur Kim Joo-heun triumphed in 1982, the inaugural year of the event, while Eddie Lee, an amateur from New Zealand, was victorious in 2002 – the year it was also played at Namseoul.
Eom was one of only two players to go bogey free today.
“Tough day, with the weather,” said the Korean, who missed the cut here last year and later in the season made the cut in his final six events to keep his Asian Tour card, in 55th place on the Order of Merit.
“Physically very tough and a difficult golf course so I am very happy to shoot 67. It’s a good score today.”
Richard T. Lee from Canada, a winner last week on the Korean PGA, is in a group of players who fired a 69.
Koreans Wooyoung Cho and Chanmin Jung, the winner here two years ago, are the best placed still on the course at five and four under respectively. Cho has three holes remaining and Jung four. – Asian Tour
