Golf: Back on tour after military service, South Korea’s Wang claims lead at S’pore Classic

SINGAPORE – For 18 months, Wang Jeung-hun put his golf career on hold as he served in the South Korean military.

Wang, who had three wins on the then European Tour and ranked a career-high world No. 39 in January 2017, did not play golf at all during this period. But he returned to the game with more passion and motivation after his military stint ended last July.

In his last nine events, Wang notched two top-five finishes and looks on track to replicate that in the Republic, where he shot a six-under 66 in the third round of the Singapore Classic on Saturday.

He birdied six of the last seven holes at Laguna National Golf Resort Club for a 14-under 202 total to power into the lead with flight-mate Alejandro del Rey (66) of Spain. England’s Richard Mansell (65) is one stroke behind.

Wang, 27, is just happy to be back on the DP World Tour, saying: “Mentally, I improved a lot in military service and I also really missed golf and it makes me more in love with golf, so that’s why I can enjoy it and I’m playing better than before.”

A switch from his long- to normal-length putter two weeks ago also gave him an added boost. He needed just 25 putts on Saturday.

He said: “I think that’s the reason I’ve played so well. I didn’t really think about birdies. I just kept playing, aiming at the flag, and it worked.”

While Wang has had some impressive results since returning to professional golf, he admitted that it was not without its challenges.

He said: “My short game, my short irons weren’t really good. I had a hard time fixing it... I practised a little bit more than before.

“I took a break for more than one-and-a-half years.

“I practised a lot to fix my short game and my swing, maybe a few more hours more than before.”

Joint-leader del Rey, 24, is confident of bagging his first DP World Tour title on Sunday, saying: “I’ve won at many levels that I’ve played – I’ve won as an amateur, I’ve won in college golf in the US, I’ve won Challenge Tour, so I know how to get it done.

“People might think it’s different when you’re playing DP World Tour as compared to Challenge Tour.

“Challenge Tour guys are very competitive and it is the same mindset. You have to want it more than the guy next to you.”

The duo face stiff competition from the chasing pack, with 18 others within five shots of the lead with 18 holes left of the US$2 million (S$2.65 million) event.

The 7,420-yard course at Laguna proved a challenge for some on Saturday, particularly on the par four, 439-yard 16th hole, which witnessed three triple-bogeys, five double-bogeys and 19 bogeys.

One of them was overnight leader Tom McKibbin, of Northern Ireland, who stumbled to his fifth bogey of the round at No. 16 for a 71 to slide down the leaderboard to fourth on 12-under 204.

Fellow joint-leader Ding Wenyi also could not reproduce his form, as the 18-year-old Chinese amateur carded a 76 and dropped back to joint-21st on 208.

McKibbin, 20, said: “Overall, it was a pretty even day. Hopefully, I can go a bit better tomorrow.

“Similar to the last few days, I’ll just try and hit the ball a wee bit closer to the hole and try and eliminate some of those mistakes.

“I don’t think I can afford to have too many tomorrow, I’ll go out and give it my all.”

New Zealand’s Ryan Fox (69), the highest ranked player here at world No. 30, is tied-31st with a 209, while Singapore’s sole representative Ryan Ang (73) is joint 61st on 214.