Jang Yu-bin Leaps to Lead in KPGA Classic Round 2, Eyes First Win in 20 Months

Jang Yu-bin has surged to the sole lead in the second round of the KPGA Classic with I'm Vita, a Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) Tour event played under the modified Stableford scoring system.

In the second round held at the Cypress Golf & Resort North-West Course in Seogwipo, Jeju, Jang recorded 6 birdies for a score of 6-under 66, earning 12 points. This brings his total to 27 points, putting him one point ahead of Park Jung-hun and Park Eun-shin, who are tied for second with 26 points.

Jang, a three-time winner on the KPGA Tour, won a team gold medal at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. In 2024, he achieved six major awards, including the Grand Prize and the leading money winner title, after securing two victories and five runner-up finishes on the KPGA Tour.

Last year, he became the first Korean player to join LIV Golf, but he struggled with injuries, including a torn ligament in his left thumb. After failing to finish inside the top 20 in any of the 13 tournaments he entered and losing his tour card, he returned to the domestic circuit.

In his second tournament since returning, the Woori Financial Group Championship, Jang finished tied for second. He is now aiming for his first victory in 1 year and 8 months, since the Baek Song Holdings Asiad CC Busan Open in October 2024.

Starting his round on the 10th hole today, Jang made his first birdie on the 11th hole and added consecutive birdies on the 13th and 14th to earn 6 points on the front nine.

After a string of pars, he recorded his fourth birdie of the round on the 1st hole.

On the 5th hole, he successfully sank a 1.7-meter birdie putt.

On the par-5 8th hole, his second shot landed in a bunker, but he placed his third shot within 1 meter of the hole to add another birdie.

Jung Jae-hyun, who placed second in the first round with 8 birdies and no bogeys, earned 6 points today, placing him in 6th place with a total of 22 points.

Bae Yong-jun, last year's winner of this tournament and a two-time winner in modified Stableford events, earned 10 points today. With a total of 12 points, he jumped from tied for 76th yesterday to tied for 40th.

Park Sang-hyun, who is attempting to become the first player on the tour to surpass 6 billion won in career prize money—having accumulated 5,911,796,335 won so far—finished tied for 88th with 6 points and failed to make the cut.

The modified Stableford system determines rankings by awarding points based on performance on each hole rather than total strokes.

Pars are worth 0 points, birdies 2 points, eagles 5 points, and albatrosses 8 points, while bogeys are -1 point and double bogeys or worse are -3 points.

(Photo: Provided by KPGA Tour, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.