A pinpoint putting lesson from swing coach Lee Sang-hoon was the key ingredient behind Jung Jae-hyun's victory at the KPGA Tour season finale.
Playing the final round Sunday at Teddy Valley Golf & Resort's Valley and Teddy courses (par 72) in Seogwipo, Jeju, Jung carded a course-record 8-under-par 64 — eight birdies, zero bogeys. His total of 13-under-par 275 beat runner-up Hwang Jae-min by three strokes.
Watching the third round on television Saturday, Lee spotted a flaw in his pupil's putting stroke and boarded an early-morning flight to Jeju on Sunday.
Upon arriving at the venue, Lee took Jung to the practice green for an impromptu putting session. The fix worked: Jung went bogey-free with eight birdies, and his greens-in-regulation putting average dropped from 2.0 in the third round to 1.53 in the final round.
The prescription was simple — cut down the sliding, brushing motion and replace it with a shorter, crisper strike. Jung did not make a single bogey on the final day, a result that appeared to reflect the adjustment.
On the 18th hole, he stuck his second shot to within about one meter of the cup and rolled in the birdie putt to seal the title. It was a moment that showcased the putting game player and coach had refined together — a former card-holder who had lost his tour status rising to claim the season's final crown.
Jung and Lee's partnership began at a training camp in Thailand two years ago. Jung went through the national reserve squad in 2022, then suffered a torn ligament in his right ankle after falling on a staircase during the Ferrum tournament in 2024 — his rookie season — and lost his regular tour card as a result.
Searching for a way out of his slump, Jung traveled to Lee's winter camp in Thailand with his father. Feeling the benefits of Lee's corrections, he began formal coaching in March last year. The biggest challenge at the time was iron distance. Lee recalled that when he first watched Jung hit, "the ball was flying all over the place — short and long."
Because Jung relied on brute force to compress the ball, his carry distances varied widely with the same club. Lee focused on narrowing that gap, and as distance control into greens stabilized, Jung's overall game improved. A win on the second-tier Challenge Tour last year gave him the springboard to return to the regular tour this year.
The victory also allowed Jung to quickly shake off the sting of a playoff loss to Bae Yong-jun at last week's Lexus Masters.
"Throughout this year's events, getting into the top 10 was fine, but going beyond that was really difficult," Jung said in his post-round interview. "I had doubts about my own ability, but going to a playoff at last week's Lexus Masters made me think, 'I can genuinely compete for titles.' That gave me a lot of confidence, and I went into this week's finale thinking that if I just focused on my own game, good things would happen."
Jung will tee it up at the Asian Tour's Philippine Open next week. He emigrated to the Philippines with his family at age four, and said he is eager to return. "I'm curious what kind of feelings I'll have and what kind of golf I'll play next week," he said. "Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club is a course I played from a young age. I'm really looking forward to it." Jung returned to South Korea in his third year of middle school, and it will be worth watching whether he can show his champion's form in what he considers a second home.
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