▲ Moon Do-yeob
Moon Do-yeob, who is set to compete in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, fine-tuned his shot-making by finishing as the runner-up at the Korean Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) Tour Shinhan Donghae Open.
Playing the final fourth round of the 42nd Shinhan Donghae Open (total purse of 1.5 billion won) at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea Urban Links Course (par 72) in Incheon today (13th), Moon carded one double bogey and eight birdies for a 6-under-par 66.
Finishing with a total of 14-under-par 274, Moon tied for second place alongside Jang Yu-bin, Lee Sang-hee, and Yujiro Ohori of Japan.
The championship went to Kosuke Sunagawa of Japan, who posted a total of 16-under-par 272.
For Sunagawa, this marks his first professional victory, which he claimed in South Korea.
At the tournament co-sanctioned by the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO), Japanese players have now captured the trophy for three consecutive years, following Kensei Hirata in 2024 and Kazuki Higa in 2025.
Although Moon, who secured his first win of the season at the KPGA Gyeongbuk Open last May, missed out on a second victory of the season, he brightened his medal prospects for the men's golf event at the Asian Games taking place later this month.
Starting the final round tied for 11th, Moon shaved three strokes off his score on the front nine to mount a chase, but stumbled on the 11th hole (par 4). After hitting his tee shot to the right and into a penalty area, Moon required five strokes to reach the green, dropping two shots before holing out.
However, after bouncing back with a birdie on the 12th hole (par 4), he surged up the leaderboard by sinking four consecutive birdies from the 15th to the 18th holes.
Jang Yu-bin, who started the day tied for second place one stroke behind the leader, managed to shave only two strokes off with four birdies and two bogeys, failing to catch leader Sunagawa.
Jang, pursuing his third win of the KPGA Tour season, took sole possession of the lead after making back-to-back birdies on the 1st and 2nd holes (both par 4s), but struggled to lower his score for a stretch.
Missing a short birdie putt on the 7th hole (par 5) and dropping a shot on the 8th hole (par 3), he entered the back nine tied for third, two strokes behind co-leaders Sunagawa and Yujiro Ohori.
Jang sparked his pursuit again on the 10th hole (par 4) by landing his second shot from a fairway bunker within 80 centimeters of the hole for a birdie.
However, Sunagawa pulled three strokes ahead by successfully sinking a 19-meter long-range birdie putt on the 12th hole (par 4).
Struggling to capitalize on birdie opportunities, Jang carded a bogey on the 14th hole (par 4) and cushioned his disappointment with a birdie on the 18th hole (par 5).
(Photo courtesy of KPGA, Yonhap News)
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