Lee Jae-kyung (24) survived the group of death.
Lee Jae-kyung (24) won his third straight match to advance to the round of 16 with a two-hole victory over top-seeded Seo Yoseop (27) in the first of three group matches on the second day of the Korea Professional Golf Association (KPGA) Korean Tour Descent Korea Match Play (total prize money: 800 million won) at Kingsdale Golf Club (Par 72) in Chungju, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea.
After defeating Kang Min-seok and Lee Seung-chan in the first day’s 1-2 group matches, the 32nd-seeded Lee took on Seo, who tied for the lead with two wins on the day, and won by two holes without surrendering a single lead.
The 64-player field was divided into 16 groups of four, with the top finisher in each group advancing to the round of 16. From the round of 16 onward, the tournament will be played in a tournament-style format, with one loss eliminating a player.
Lee, who has two wins on the Korean Tour, had a slow start to the season with back-to-back missed cuts, but has been on a roll since May. Starting with a tie for fourth at the GS Caltex Mae Kyung Open, she posted four straight top-10 finishes, including a tie for fourth at the Woori Financial Championship, a tie for seventh at the SK Telecom Open and a tie for 10th at the KB Financial Live Championship last week.
Lee, who finished 75th in Genesis Points last season, did not qualify for the tournament and came in as a sponsor’s pick, but continued her recent run of form by advancing to the round of 16 after knocking off top-seeded Seo Yoseop in the first round.
Lee birdied the second hole to take a one-stroke lead after sharing the first. She dropped the fourth, but reeled off back-to-back birdies on the fifth and sixth to quickly take a two-shot lead. Lee won one more hole on the ninth and ended the first half with a three-shot lead.
Seo Yosub birdied the 11th (par-5) to try to catch up, but was unable to make a comeback as Lee remained steadfast. Lee took a two-stroke lead into the 16th and birdied the 17th to win by two with one hole to go. 스포츠토토
Lee will take on Ko Goon-taek, the top-ranked player in Group 16, in the round of 16 for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Defending champion Park Eun-shin defeated Park Sung-kook by three holes on the day to top the group with a 2-1 record and the first gateway to a second consecutive title.
“It’s important to keep up the good momentum and play with high confidence in every match,” Park said, “The nature of match play means that you can be affected by your opponent’s performance, but I’m determined to stay focused and play my game.”
Park will play Bae Yun-ho in the round of 16.
The lower seeds rebelled in this tournament. In Group 2, 63rd-seeded Kang Tae-young overcame the likes of second-seeded Kim Biao to punch his ticket to the round of 16, while 42nd-seeded Bae Yoon-ho, 47th-seeded Choi Min-chul, and 59th-seeded Jeon Ga-ram also topped their groups to reach the round of 16.
In addition, Park Sang-hyun, Ham Jung-woo, Kim Min-kyu, Bae Yong-joon, and Bae Yoon-ho won three matches, while Kim Tae-ho and Ok Tae-hoon topped their groups with two wins and a draw. Kang Kyung-nam, Shin Sung-gu, and Kwon Sung-yeol punched their tickets to the round of 16 in overtime.