Kim Kyung Tae's Diamond Cup breakthrough
BY Bruce Young | Japan Tour | 2010 Diamond Cup | Round Four | 30 May 2010
23 year old Korean golfer Kyung Tae Kim has today broken through for his first win on the Japan Golf Tour by winning the Diamond Cup tournament in Saitama north of Tokyo by two shots over recent Token Homemate Cup winner Koumei Oda with Kaname Yokoo third.
Kim, who is playing his third full season on the Japan Golf Tour, has been five times runner up on that tour, four of those coming in the past eight months. After yet another recent runner up finish on the One Asia Tour when 2nd at the Caltex Maekyung Open and then a 4th place finish at the SK Telekom Open, Kim was due a win of such significance.
Leading by five shots after round two and by six shots heading into today’s final round, Kim could only manage a one under par round of 71 today but he had done enough early in the tournament to establish a winning break.
Oda birdied four of his last six holes to get within two but the margin was always too great. Oda will however move into third position on the 2010 Japan Golf Tour money list and continue the consistency he has developed in recent years.
The money list leader at the completion of this week’s event is Toru Taniguchi who won last week’s Japan PGA Championship.
The Japan Golf Tour may well have unearthed yet another teenage amateur sensation to follow in the footsteps of Ryo Ishikawa with 17 year old Yosuke Asaji finishing an impressive 9th.
The leading Australasian was Japan Golf Tour rookie Kurt Barnes who finished 18th and moves to 16th on the money list. Brendan Jones was 21st, David Smail 27th, Chris Campbell, Eddie Lee and Steve Conran 32nd and Wayne Perske 45th.
The Japan Golf Tour now moves to the other side of Tokyo for the Japan Golf Tour Championship at Shishido Hills.
