어니엘스, 4언더파 단독 2위

Ernie Els in 2nd with 4-Under 'Big Easy' Ernie Els (34, South Africa) got closer to the title during the 2nd round of the 47th Kolon Korea Open Golf Championship (Purse: 500 million won) at the Woojeong Hills Country Club (par 72, 7047yd) in Cheonan. Els shot 3-under 69 this day, scoring 4-under 140 in 2nd place.

Ernie Els shot an eagle and 3 birdies fulfilling his objective of maintaining an under-par score. He only shot 2 bogeys.
Starting the round on the 1st hole, Els got his chip-shot 20cm by the cup and birdying it on the 5th hole (par 5, 510yd). In the second half, he astonished the gallery with a 340 yard tee shot on the 11th hole (par 5, 494yd), then eagled it easily after a 170 yard second shot with his 8-iron which got 60cm from the pin.

Scoring a bogey with a 3-putt on the 13th hole (par 3, 221yd), Els recovered his mistake with a 1.5m birdie on the 14th (par 4, 424yd), but sank again to 3-under after a 3-putt on the 17th hole (par 4, 467yd).

However, the 'Big Easy' was a man of great tenacity. On the 18th hole (par 5, 561yd), Els, who put his 2nd shot on the right apron, made a 1.2m approach with an outstanding chip shot followed by a birdie and finished the round 4-under.

After the round Els said 'I didn't like today's play, but the eagle and birdie on par 5 holes let me shoot 69,' he continued 'I will do my best to reduce my score tomorrow. The 'Korean Tornado' Na Sang-Wook shot again 1-over 73 to score 2-over 146 in the 14th place after the 2nd round.

Terry Pilkadaris (30, Australia) lead the tournament shooting 5-under 139, and Edward Loar (26, U.S.A.) and Hendrick Burman (41, South Africa) came in 3rd after Ernie Els. 'The Korean Legend' Choi Sang-Ho (49) and amateur rookie Kang Sung-Hoon (17, Jeju Nam-Nyung High School) both scored 1-under 143 in 5th place to perform the best among Korean players.

Meanwhile, the cut-off was 8-over 152 and 67 qualified for the next round. Kim Jong-Deok (43), who is living another noon of his career, disqualified by a stroke while Thailand's top golfer Thaworn (37) Wiratchant forfeited. 54 players had a two-digit over par after the second round while Ahn Hyung-Keun performed poorly with 26-over 170 showing how hard the this course is.

'무명' 필카다리스 단독 선두로

The 'Unknown' Pilkadaris Leads the Tournament During the 3rd round of the 47th Kolon Korea Open Golf Championship Tournament (Purse: 500 million won), Terry Pilkadaris (30, Australia) lead the tournament shooting 2-under 214, one stroke ahead of Ernie Els (34, South Africa).

In this round, which took place at the Woojeong Hills Country Club (par 72, 7047yd) in Cheonan, Pilkadaris barely maintained his lead with some ups and downs shooting 5 birdies and also 2 bogeys, a double bogey and a triple bogey.

Terry Pilkadaris was absolutely unknown to the public ranking no.61 in prize money, but showed outstanding putts offering a spectacle to the gallery. Pilkadaris said 'I had good putts, but some of my iron shots slipped to the right,' he continued, 'I heard it will be raining tomorrow. I will use the same strategy doing my best to deliver the tee-shot on the fairway.'

'Big Easy' Ernie Els (South Africa) struggled in the rain during the first half losing some points, but recovered in the second half maintain a top-class play. Els was able to establish a chance of winning the tournament in the next round.

Els said 'The course condition is good, but it gets very difficult once the ball falls into the rough,' he continued, 'I will start tomorrow's round trailing behind a stroke, but I will do my best.' 'It has been long since my last visit to Korea and I want to make good memories while I am here,' he added, expressing his willingness to win the tournament.

The 500 spectators who gathered around Els from his practice session reflected Els' popularity among the Korean public.
Meanwhile, Na Sang-Wook (20, Kolon Elord) did pretty well despite the rain, but struggled with the distorted course. Na seemed to have a hard time with jet lag and the cold weather, worrying his entourage.

Kang Sung-Hoon (17, Jeju Namnyung High School), who is an amateur golfer, shot 3-over 219 in the 4th place, the best performance among all Korean players. Among the pros, Oh Tae-Keun placed himself in the 6th place shooting 4-over 220.

The long roughs, which were difficult to attack even on sunny days, became a pain to the players with the rain where the clubs wound into the wet roughs. Some players shot triple-bogeys on this hole. The only player to shoot an under-par was Jang Ik-Jae (31). This showed how the rain and this delicate course affected the players.

In this year's Kolon Korea Open, the Korean players' poor performance brought up a crisis by almost letting a non-Korean player win the tournament for 3 consecutive years. The attention was drawn to the question about who will recover the once stolen title.

'The Leftie' Loar Wins the Tournament with the Only Under-par Score

In the final round of the Korea Open Golf Championship Tournament (Purse: 500 million won), 'The Leftie' Edward Loar (26, U.S.A.) put the trophy in his hand by winning a losing game with the only under-par score, 2-under 286, among all players. The prize money was 100 million won.

The 12th, the last day of the tournament at the Woojeong Hills Country Club (par 72, 7047yd) in Cheonan, Loar, who started the game one stroke behind the current leader Pilkadaris (30, Australia), was able to reverse the game thanks to Pilkadaris' unexplainable triple-bogey on the 14th hole, and confirm his victory on the 15th hole (par 4, 378yd) with a decisive birdie.

Loar made the grand finale by shooting the winning birdie on a 1.5m slice-line of the 15th hole, applauded by the gallery. After his victory, 'This win means a lot to me,' Loar added, 'Although Pilkadaris' mistake on the 14th hole let me lead the tournament, I couldn't relax because of Yets' unstoppable chase,' expressing the tense moments during the whole game. On the question asking if he had any difficulties during the windy days, Loar, who is from Dallas, Texas, replied, 'Growing up in Texas where there's a lot of wind, I think the wind here helped me.'

With Loar's win, the Kolon Korea Open was marked with a record of three consecutive non-Korean players winning the tournament.
Simon Yets, who came in 2nd place, did pretty well shooting 3 birdies and no bogeys, but his performance was not enough to reverse the game. 'Big Easy' Ernie Els gave his best with a birdie on the last hole, though the double-bogey on the 13th hole didn't allow him to win the trophy.

Shooting a birdie on his first hole, Els scored a bogey-bogey on the next two holes, hole no.2 and 3 leading to an even-par. He shot another bogey on the 9th hole, the last of the first half, finishing the first half at 2-over.
Meanwhile, Pilkadaris, who led the tournament until the 3rd round, shot a tee into the left rough of the 14th hole only to fail of getting the ball out with his lobe-wedge. On this hole, Pilkadaris scored a triple-bogey after a 5-on 2-putt, and having lost control of his game, he finished 4th in the tournament.
The top Korean player was Kang Ok-Soon (38) who shot 5-over 293 for the 6th place.

The strong wind, which peaked at 7.1m/s (25.6 km/s), troubled the players. The wind rather than the rain affected the players leading to shots deviating from the narrow fairways and falling in the roughs. Many players often scored more-than-double-bogeys this day. With a peak wind speed of 7.1 m/s, the Woojeong Hills Country Club transformed into one of the most difficult golf courses; only 3 players shot an under-par and the only player to finish the tournament with an under-par was the winner, Edward Loar.

'The Korean Tornado' Na Sang-Wook (20, Kolon Elord) shot 76 on this day to finish the tournament in the 26th place, climbing 8 slots above compared to the previous day.