LAUREL, Batangas – Korea’s Jaehyun Jung overcame a shaky start to capture low medal honors in the Philippine Golf Tour Qualifying School, edging Carl Corpus by one stroke after a dramatic final round at Splendido Taal Golf Club on Friday.
Jung, who opened with back-to-back bogeys, steadied himself with a string of pars and two crucial birdies on the back nine.
Meanwhile, Corpus mounted an early charge, erasing a five-shot deficit with three birdies in four holes to force a tie at three-under. However, a bogey on the seventh and a costly double bogey on the ninth stalled his momentum.
Although Corpus rebounded with consecutive birdies after the turn, Jung regained control with birdies on Nos. 10 and 15. Despite closing with back-to-back bogeys, his final-round two-over 74 secured a three-under-par 285 total, besting Corpus’ 286 in his first PGT Q-School appearance.
Corpus finished with a 70.
“Overall, I remained patient with my game, knowing that I woke up with a stiff neck and wasn’t expecting much,” Jung said. “I just focused on doing my best out there.”
Japan’s Yuto Hayaski (73) and Atsushi Ueda (72) placed third and fourth with 292 and 293, respectively, in the four-day tournament organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.
A total of 30 players secured their PGT Tour cards, with the new season set to begin Monday, Feb. 24, at Pradera Verde Golf and Country Club in Lubao, Pampanga.
Among them were Orland Sumcad (73), Christopher Popp (75), Myung Chal Hwang (77), and Taewon Ha (77), who tied for 27th at 308.
Christopher delos Santos placed fifth with 295 after a 76, while Tae Won Kim (68), Toru Nakajima (71), and Paul Echaves (76) shared sixth at 296.
James Ryan Lam regained his Tour card with a 298 total after a 73, while Ivan Monsalve (72) and Dan Cruz (75) tied for 10th at 299.
Other qualifiers included:
- Josh Jorge (74-300)
- Jhondie Quibol (77-300)
- Carlos Packing (74-301)
- GJ Katigbak (72-302)
- Junichi Katayama (74-302)
- Jonas Magcalayo (75-303)
- Yudai Nakakuki (72-303)
- Tom Guerrero (77-303)
- Belem Arancon (80-303)
- John Michael Uy (78-304)
- Ji Sung Cheon (78-305)
- Lee Song (72-306)
- Qawim Aslimon (80-306)
- Rey Pagunsan (81-306)
- Luis Bagtas (79-307)
Angelo Anzuris (77) and former national champion Anthony Fernando (79) missed the cut by one stroke at 309, with Anzuris’ bogey-double bogey-bogey finish and Fernando’s three straight closing bogeys proving costly.
Amateur Paolo Wong tied for 27th at 308 after carding a 79 but was relegated to Category 7 status along with Anzuris, Fernando, and 26 others.
With 10 events scheduled for the new PGT season, the qualifiers will now shift their focus to competing against the country’s top professionals across premier championship courses.