Korea’s rising star Minhyuk Song overcame compatriot Mingyu Cho on the first hole of a sudden-death play-off to win the GS Caltex Maekyung Open today – on one of the most dramatic Sunday’s the tournament has ever seen.
Song, aged 22, secured his first victory in the professional game by parring the first extra hole at Namseoul Country Club, after Cho made bogey.
It was an incredible turn of events as Cho looked to be on course for the win leading by two playing the last. However, he missed a three-foot bogey putt and made double bogey to fall back into a tie with playing-partner Song.
Adding to the drama, Korean Inhoi Hur looked set to join the play-off but after signing his scorecard he was penalised two shots for an incident that took place yesterday.
All three had finished tied on 11 under, with Song and Cho, the joint leaders at the start of the day, both shooting 70 and Hur a 64.
Hur’s tournament total was subsequently changed to nine under and he finished joint third with South African Ian Snyman and Korea’s Taehee Lee. Snyman returned a 67 and Lee 69.
Song trailed Cho the whole of the back nine before he made a solid par on the 18th to keep his hopes alive. Cho had pushed his tee shot right, punched back into the fairway and ended up three putting.
“I really wanted to win,” he said, “but I also told myself that even if I stumbled, as long as I had the strength to get back up, I could become a player capable of winning. I’m just very happy that such a great opportunity came sooner than I expected.”
He had a bogey free front nine and made birdies on three and four to stay level with Cho. He dropped his first shot of the day on 11, where a tiddler horse shoed the hole, recovered with a birdie on the next before dropping a shot on 16.
He added: “I thought I might cry after my first win, but in the moment, I just felt overwhelming joy and couldn’t stop smiling. Up until last year, my father caddied for me, but this year I’m working with a professional caddie. My dream was to win with my father on the bag and bow to him as a celebration. Although I couldn’t fulfil that this time, my caddie did an amazing job and really helped me perform well.”
It was a case of coming full circle as he finished second here as an amateur in 2023, before turning professional at the end of that year.
In the play-off Cho hit another poor drive but on this occasion down the left. He found the greenside trap with his second and splashed out to eight feet. Song two putted from the back of the green for par, while Cho missed his attempt.
It was once again a bitter pill to swallow for Cho. He was looking for his first win on Korean soil in 16 years as a professional.
The 37-year-old also came close to winning this event in 2022 when he finished in second place, two behind his countryman Bio Kim. On that occasion he held the lead on the front nine but suffered a huge set back on the ninth when he was penalised two shots for playing his third off a temporary green.
For Hur it was also a case of what might have been. He made a brave run at the title with three birdies on the trot from the 11th. The 2021 champion parred home from there before being informed of a two-shot deduction following a review by the rules committee.
He had been assessed a stroke and distance penalty on hole seven in the third round, where he made a par four after having played a provisional.
Officials determined that his original tee shot was out of bounds and his provisional ball became ball in play thus his score was corrected from four to six.
The final standings for the 45th GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship 📊 pic.twitter.com/b5cSn86fsH
— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) May 3, 2026
The Asian Tour heads to Chinese-Taipei next week for the Taiwan Glass Taifong Open. The tournament tees off on Thursday at Taifong Golf Club. Thailand’s Ekpharit Wu starts as the defending champion.
© asiantour.com / Picture courtesy Korea Golf Association