Although he was active as a national representative, not many people paid attention to Kim Dong-min (25, NJ Nonghyup Bank) until last year. Until last year, he missed the cut nine times in the first half alone. He experienced only 19 cuts in 47 competitions he participated in for three years.

Such Kim Dong-min has changed. He often suffered from an OB that went to the right due to a driver tee shot, but he made up for his weakness and transformed into a completely different golfer.

Kim Dong-min scored 5 under par 67 in the 4th round on the last day of the Korea Men’s Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour KB Financial Live Championship (total prize money of 700 million won) held at the Blackstone Golf Club (par 72, total prize money of 700 million won) in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do on the 28th. He hit the top with a final total of 8 under par 280 strokes.메이저놀이터

After debuting on the KPGA Korean Tour in 2020, it was his 4th season and 66th appearance, and he tasted the victory. He is only the 53rd in the tournament he has been seeded in. He failed to show results beyond expectations. He was a golfer with more missed cuts. He couldn’t get much attention.

However, from the second half of last year, Kim Dong-min transformed into a completely different golfer. The Choi Kyung-joo Invitational in October became an inflection point. He tied for 7th, finished runner-up at the Golfzon-Toray Open in November, and tied for 6th at the LG Signature Players Championship, the final game of the season, and experienced top 10 several times.

Kim Dong-min is hitting a driver tee shot. /Photo = KPGA
This year, winning the opening game, not passing the cut, became a realistic goal as he placed 4th in the opening game, the DB Insurance Promy Open, and finished runner-up in the Golf Zone Open.

The secret lies in the driver’s tee shot accuracy. After the match, Kim Dong-min said, “I don’t think I’ve been able to win because of the lack of tee shot accuracy. I had a lot of OBs in this tournament, but since Blackstone Icheon GC is a challenging course, I tried to hit my tee shot safely. This is the factor that helped me win” in the second half of last year. Regarding the upward trend after that, “It was because my confidence in the driver shot increased. There were many OBs whose driver shots went to the right. I was stubborn to hit them too straight,” he said. Now, compared to the first half of last year, my tee shot is much better, so I am more confident.”

On this day, Kim Dong-min, who started in 10th place behind Min-gyu Kim by 5 strokes, made 4 birdies up to the 9th hole and joined the race for the championship. Of these, only one tee shot went over 250 yards. That’s why he paid a lot of attention to accuracy.

The second half started with a tie for the lead. He could have played more carefully, but he missed his tee shot in the right rough on hole 10 (par 4) and even made a mistake by missing a 1m putt, losing one stroke. Kim Dong-min, who caught a birdie through a fantastic iron shot on the 15th hole (par 5) and took the lead again, was pushed back to second place by one shot with a 3-putt bogey on the 17th hole (par 4).

Kim Dong-min makes an eagle putt on the 18th hole and clenches his fist. /Photo = KPGA

Kim Dong-min (left) being baptized with water after winning the championship. /Photo = KPGA
Hole 18 (par 5) has an adventure number. Kim Dong-min, who hit his tee shot 302 yards and landed it on the fairway, caught a wood, not an iron. he was a great success The hole cup was placed around 4m, and the bold eagle putt was sucked in, reducing two strokes at once to rise to the sole lead. Shin Sang-hoon recorded a double bogey on the 17th hole to confirm the championship.

Kim Dong-min, who received 140 million won in prize money for his first win, jumped to second place in the prize money rankings. The winner of the Golfzon Open, who took second place, was Jo Woo-young, an amateur, so he became the beneficiary of the prize money.

Kim Dong-min, who reviewed the play on the 18th hole, said, “I knew that I was tied for the lead on the 17th hole. I thought a lot about whether to hit it with the 3-wood or not. I decided to try the eagle rather than the birdie, so I chose the 3-wood, but I was able to land close to the pin and succeed in the eagle. I hit the eagle aiming for the last putt,” she smiled.

The first victory in my life that I never dreamed of. Kim Dong-min said, “I played my best until the end, and I am so happy that the championship followed.”

Now, another goal has been set. “I have won the championship, which was my goal. Now I want to gain confidence and add one more win this year to win the ‘Genesis Point’ and win the ‘Genesis Grand Prize'” he said. “