▲ Bae Yong-jun hitting an iron shot
Bae Yong-jun maintained his sole lead in the second round of the KPGA Tour's inaugural Amazing Creed Open (total purse of 700 million won), widening the gap with the second-place group.
Playing in the second round held today (October 9) at Flamingo Country Club (par 70) in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, Bae recorded 6-under-par 64 with seven birdies and one bogey, bringing his total to 12-under-par 128.
Having held a slim one-stroke lead after the first round, Bae pulled ahead of tied-for-second-place finishers Kim Yong-tae and Brendan Valdes (USA—both at 8-under-par 132) by a four-stroke margin to secure his top position.
Bae grabbed his first birdie of the second round on the 2nd hole (par 5) and followed up with three consecutive birdies from the 6th hole (par 4) to the 8th hole (par 3).
He holed a 4-meter birdie putt on the 6th hole and successfully sank a 3.6-meter birdie putt on the 7th hole (par 4).
On the 8th hole, he landed his tee shot 8 meters from the pin and shaved off another stroke.
Having shaved off four strokes on the front nine alone, Bae steadily continued to lower his score on the back nine.
He dropped a 4.4-meter birdie putt into the cup on the 10th hole (par 4) and converted his third shot from the fringe into a birdie on the 14th hole (par 4).
Bae committed his only bogey of the day on the 17th hole (par 3) but recovered with a birdie on the 18th hole (par 5) to finish the round.
After the match, Bae stated, "I missed the cut in the previous tournament because things didn't go well, and I think I played a bit too hurriedly. I tried to make up for my shortcomings ahead of this tournament, and it seems to be paying off."
Park Eun-shin, who reduced his score by four strokes today, jumped to sole fourth place at 7-under-par 133, while Moon Do-yub and 10 other players formed a tied-for-fifth group at 6-under-par 134.
(Photo courtesy of KPGA Tour, Yonhap News)
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