National team's Kim Seong-hyun, Moon Do-yeop aim for early advantage
Defending champion Kazuki Higa of Japan eyes third title
A preview of the Asian Games golf competition is set to unfold ahead of the main event.
The 42nd Shinhan Donghae Open, carrying a purse of 1.5 billion won ($1.12 million) and a winner's share of 300 million won, will run from Thursday through Sunday at the Urban and Links courses of Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea (par 72, 7,502 yards) in Songdo, Incheon.
Jointly organized by the KPGA Tour and the Japan Golf Tour Organization, the tournament carries an added edge as a matchup of national pride between South Korea and Japan, drawing extra attention as it comes just ahead of the Asian Games golf competition, which runs from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3.
South Korea's national team lineup for the Shinhan Donghae Open includes Kim Seong-hyun, 28, of Shinhan Financial Group, and Moon Do-yeop, 35, of DB Insurance, with Kim Joo-hyung, who is active on the PGA Tour, sitting out.
Kim Seong-hyun, who competed on the PGA Tour until early this year and has since played on the KPGA Tour, has played eight domestic events this season and finished in the top 10 five times. His best result of the season came at the Gunsan CC Open in June, where he finished runner-up.
Moon Do-yeop, who won the North Gyeongsang Open in May for his sixth career KPGA Tour title, has also expanded his reach by competing on the LIV Golf circuit. He has posted four top-10 finishes on the KPGA Tour this season, the most stable form on the team after Kim.
Japan will send professional players to the Asian Games for the first time ever, and one of them is defending Shinhan Donghae Open champion Kazuki Higa, 31, who won last year's edition. Kim Seong-hyun chased Higa, who led the tournament, through the final round and finished sixth.
Higa, who has eight career wins on the Japan Golf Tour, also has deep ties to this event, having won the 2022 Shinhan Donghae Open held in Nara, Japan. Should he win again this year, he would become only the second player in the tournament's history to claim three titles. The only other three-time winner is Choi Sang-ho, 71, who won in 1985, 1993 and 1995.
"The Shinhan Donghae Open gave me a special and precious memory of winning in Korea, and it means a lot to me," Higa said ahead of the tournament. "I feel honored to return to this stage as the defending champion, and I plan to approach this year's event with the humble mindset of starting over from scratch."
Also in the field are Jang Yu-bin, 24, of Shinhan Financial Group, and Jo Woo-young, 25, of Woori Financial Group, who won gold in the men's team event at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. Sadom Kaewkanjana, 28, of Thailand, won the 67th Kolon Korea Open last year and also earned Rookie of the Year honors. Takashi Ogiso, 29, of Japan, claimed his first career win at the 2024 Hana Bank Invitational.
The champion will receive a five-year exemption on the KPGA Tour, a two-year exemption on the Japan Golf Tour and 1,200 Genesis points.
yjc@heraldcorp.com
