Junghwan Lee sealed victory on home soil after what he described as his “best round” at the Genesis Championship in South Korea.
Lee, who is a regular participant on the Korean Tour and Asian Tour, entered into the final round at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club four shots behind co-leaders Mikael Lindberg of Sweden and Ignacio Elvira of Spain. But the World No. 451 produced a sizzling final-round display which included five consecutive birdies from the third to surge up the leaderboard and put the heat on Elvira. The pair battled it out on the back nine but Lee took advantage of costly bogeys at 17 and 18 from the Spaniard as he carded a final-round 64 to end on 11 under and secure a maiden triumph in front of a jubilant home crowd.
“I bogeyed the second hole but afterwards I grabbed (five) consecutive birdies and that really made the game easier and built momentum,” Lee said.
“This was my best round, especially as the gallery out there were really cheering for me. They gave me the strength I needed.
“I just hope I can live up to their expectations in the future as well. I feel like I’m in a dream and still can’t believe I won, so it’s really hard for me to describe what I’m feeling.”
Victory means that Lee will take part in next week’s Abu Dhabi Championship after taking up his DP World Tour membership.
Elvira finished in a share of second place with Laurie Canter after the Englishman sank a monster 100-foot eagle at the last while there was also a tie for fourth between Italy’s Andrea Pavan, England’s Andy Sullivan, and Japan’s Yuto Katsuragawa.
What is the next event?
The next event on the DP World Tour schedule is the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship taking place between 6-9 November at Yas Links Golf Course.