'13 birdies alone in 2 days' Jung Jae-hyun wins '2 KPGA Challenge Tour tournaments'

*This content was translated by AI.

Jung Jae-hyun 2575 (21) achieved his first win of the season at the 2026 '2 KPGA Challenge Tour (total prize money of 100 million won and winning prize money of 20 million won).

On the first day of the competition held at the Solago CC course (par 71, 7286 yards) in Taean, Chungcheongnam-do, on March 26 and 27, Jung Jae-hyun made six birdies without a bogey, ranking second alone, one stroke behind the leader with a median total of 6-under 65.

On the final day of the tournament, Jung Jae-hyun also showed a fierce performance. Jeong Jae-hyun, who had his first birdie at the third hole (par 4), made a birdie at the sixth hole (par 5), reducing two pars in the first half. Jung Jae-hyun made birdies in two consecutive holes in the 10th (par 4) and 11th (par 4) and added birdies in the 13th (par 4), 15th (par 4), and 17th (par 5) to reduce seven more strokes on that day alone to win the second place Kim Hyun-wook (22, NH Nonghyup Bank) by five strokes with a final total of 13-under 129 strokes.

After winning, Jung Jae-hyun said, "I'm happy to win at the beginning of the season. "I think I gained a lot of confidence ahead of my return to the KPGA Tour," he said. "First of all, I want to thank my parents and my sister. I would also like to thank Prof. Sanghoon Lee, CEO of Play & Works Kim Doo-sik, and Professor Park Young-min of Korea Sports University.

"I think it was easy to hit the green by sending the tee shot stably for two days, and the driving force of the victory was that he continued to follow the putt well," he said.

Jung Jae-hyun moved to the Philippines at the age of 4 and started golfing and has won several amateur tournaments there, including the "Philippines Junior Amateur Open Match Play" and the "PAL-JGFP Championship." He returned to Korea at the age of 16 and served as a national standing army from 2021 to 2022. In 2022, he won the top prize at the Jeollanam-do Golf Association Presidential Cup Student Golf Tournament and the 21st Kanudabae Golf Journal Junior Golf Tournament.

Jung Jae-hyun joined the KPGA Pro (quasi-member) in February 2023 and the KPGA Tour Pro (full member) in April, respectively. After joining, he played in the second part of the KPGA Challenge Tour and made his KPGA Tour debut by securing the KPGA Tour seed in the 2024 season as a top scorer in the second part of the tour. He participated in 15 KPGA Tour tournaments in the 2024 season and cut through seven tournaments, including 12th place tied for the "KPGA Gunsan CC Open," but failed to maintain the seed.

Jung Jae-hyun participated in 13 KPGA Challenge Tour competitions last year and succeeded in entering the top 10 four times, including one victory in the "15th tournament," and secured the seed for the KPGA Tour in the 2026 season as a top scorer in the KPGA Challenge Tour.

Jung Jae-hyun's goal this season is to play consistently and maintain the KPGA Tour seed in the Genesis points ranking. "I felt a lack of putts last year, so I trained a lot mainly on putts and short games between off-season training ahead of the season," Jung Jae-hyun said. "I don't think I could shake off the pressure in my first year of debut." I will give up my greed and focus on my play with confidence. I will do my best with confidence," he said.

Following Jung Jae-hyun, Kim Hyun-wook finished second with 8-under 134 strokes, Hwang Doo-hyun (30, Cheil Spiral)In this final round, he finished third with a 7-under-par 135.

The "2026 KPGA Challenge Tour 3rd Tour" will be held at Gunsan CC Jeonju and Iksan courses in Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do, for two days from April 7-8.

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*This content was translated by AI.