Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana returned to winning ways on the Asian Tour after securing a hard-fought victory at the prestigious Kolon Korea Open at the Dunes Course of La Vie Est Belle Golf Club.
Sadom carded a one-under-par 70 in the final round to finish at seven-under-par overall, clinching his third Asian Tour title and first since the 2022 Singapore Open. His two-stroke victory over compatriot Poom Saksansin, who closed with a 73, also earned him a coveted spot at The Open at Royal Portrush in July, as the tournament was part of the Open Qualifying Series.
“This is a huge honour – one of the biggest titles in Asia. I focused more today than the last three rounds. I’m very excited and happy,” said Sadom, who now rises to the top of the Asian Tour Order of Merit, leapfrogging Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz and American Ollie Schniederjans.
It was a thrilling final round, with Sadom and Poom constantly trading the lead. Starting one behind, Sadom fell two shots back after a bogey on the first, but a double bogey from Poom on the next hole leveled the playing field. The lead seesawed until Sadom pulled away for good on the back nine, helped by birdies on 12 and steady play down the stretch as Poom faltered with bogeys on 14 and 15.
Korean Songgyu Yoo finished third at three-under after a 72, while Taichi Kho of Hong Kong surged into a tie for fourth with the week’s lowest round – a sparkling 64. He shared the spot with seven others including Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent and rising Korean amateur Minsu Kim, 19, the reigning Korea and Taiwan Amateur champion.
The win earned Sadom Kaewkanjana a coveted spot at The Open at Royal Portrush in July
Sadom, now only the third Thai to win the Korea Open after Thongchai Jaidee (2000) and Jazz Janewattananond (2019), also expressed joy at qualifying again for The Open, where he impressed with a T11 finish at St. Andrews in 2022 – the best-ever by a Thai golfer.
Meanwhile, Poom Saksansin, despite narrowly missing out on the title, earned admiration for his performance on the long, unforgiving course, relying on his world-class short game and iron play. Sadly, his runner-up finish was overshadowed by the tragic news of his grandmother’s passing, received after his round.
“It was a tough day, but second place is still good. Unfortunately, I just got bad news from home, so golf is not important right now,” said an emotional Poom.
The Asian Tour now shifts its focus to the International Series Morocco, scheduled from 3–6 July at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, offering a US$2 million purse.
Scores after round 4 of the Kolon Korea Open being played at La Vie Est Belle, a par-71, 7426-yard course (am – denotes amateur):
277 – Sadom Kaewkanjana (THA) 69-69-69-70.
279 – Poom Saksansin (THA) 69-68-69-73.
281 – Songgyu Yoo (KOR) 68-67-74-72.
282 – Minsu Kim (am, KOR) 68-72-74-68, Taichi Kho (HKG) 73-70-75-64, Scott Vincent (ZIM) 73-67-72-70, Dongmin Kim (KOR) 70-72-70-70, Yunseok Kang (KOR) 70-72-68-72, Giwhan Kim (KOR) 69-70-72-71, Galam Jeon (KOR) 73-73-66-70.
284 – Junsung Kim (KOR) 74-70-72-68, Yujun Jung (KOR) 65-76-74-69, Rattanon Wannasrichan (THA) 70-71-73-70.
285 – Teayang Jung (KOR) 75-69-71-70.
286 – Gunn Charoenkul (THA) 73-70-73-70, Changwoo Lee (KOR) 72-72-73-69, Heemin Chang (KOR) 72-68-73-73, Miguel Tabuena (PHI) 70-74-69-73, Kevin Yuan (AUS) 74-69-69-74, Hakhyung Kim (KOR) 71-70-71-74.
287 – Jinho Choi (KOR) 69-75-71-72, Doyeon Hwang (KOR) 69-72-76-70, Jed Morgan (AUS) 67-72-74-74, Phachara Khongwatmai (THA) 67-73-72-75.
288 – Minchel Choi (KOR) 74-69-74-71, Seungbin Choi (KOR) 70-73-70-75.
289 – David Boriboonsub (THA) 68-73-75-73, Wooyoung Cho (KOR) 71-71-73-74, Seunggu Kang (am, KOR) 72-72-71-74, Jeunghun Wang (KOR) 68-73-77-71, Micah Shin (USA) 73-70-71-75.
290 – Doyeob Mun (KOR) 76-66-75-73, Sampson Zheng (CHN) 73-69-73-75, Sanghyun Kim (KOR) 72-72-74-72, Sangyeop Lee (KOR) 75-69-75-71.
291 – Jaehan Chun (KOR) 73-72-71-75.
292 – Bio Kim (KOR) 71-72-75-74, Jimin An (KOR) 71-71-76-74, Bjorn Hellgren (SWE) 73-70-71-78, Richard T. Lee (CAN) 74-71-74-73, Seungsu Han (USA) 73-72-75-72.
294 – Ilhwan Park (KOR) 70-74-73-77, Maverick Antcliff (AUS) 75-69-73-77, Sihwan Kim (USA) 70-72-73-79, Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA) 71-74-74-75, Jeongwoo Ham (KOR) 74-72-78-70.
295 – Rakhyun Cho (USA) 70-76-71-78, Kyungnam Kang (KOR) 72-74-73-76, Yustin Lee (KOR) 71-75-75-74, Chunghoon Ha (KOR) 74-71-76-74.
296 – Haecheon An (am, KOR) 73-71-75-77, Junghwan Lee (KOR) 73-73-74-76, Seunghyuk Kim (KOR) 71-75-75-75, Chaeuk Im (KOR) 73-71-78-74.
297 – Yonggu Shin (CAN) 74-72-73-78.
298 – Woohyun Kim (KOR) 70-74-78-76.
300 – Ryan Peake (AUS) 71-75-75-79.
301 – Hyungjoon Lee (KOR) 72-70-79-80, Junhung Jang (KOR) 68-78-79-76.
309 – M.J. Maguire (USA) 76-67-80-86.
