SINGAPORE \u2013 As Ham Jeong-woo lifted his winner\u2019s trophy at the prize ceremony of the Singapore Open presented by The Business Times, it wobbled briefly, threatening to slip from his grasp but he quickly regained his grip on it.<\/p>\n
It was a rare shaky moment from the South Korean, who delivered a steady performance at Sentosa Golf Club\u2019s Serapong Course to earn his maiden Asian Tour win on April 26.<\/p>\n
Just moments earlier, he had sealed a memorable\u00a0week with a final-round three-under 68 to win the US$2 million (S$2.6 million) tournament by two strokes as he finished with a 16-under 268 total.<\/p>\n
Australian Cameron John was two strokes behind in second, after closing the event with a five-under 66.<\/p>\n
The trio of\u00a0Spain\u2019s Josele Ballester (66), Thailand\u2019s Jazz Janewattananond (68) and Japan\u2019s Tomohiro Ishizaka (70) trailed John by five shots.<\/p>\n
On his victory, Ham said: \u201cIn the last two years, my golf hasn\u2019t been doing too well so this is a motivational factor for me. It tells me that if I prepare well, I too can win.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I was not thinking at all about winning. Even today, I was playing just so-so so I thought I\u2019d be 10th on the leaderboard. But I won so I\u2019m feeling very proud of myself \u2013 that my golf has improved.\u201d<\/p>\n South Korea\u2019s Ham Jeong-woo carded five birdies against one double-bogey on the final day of the Singapore Open presented by The Business Times to seal his first Asian Tour win.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Having led throughout the International Series tournament, the world No. 735 started the final day with a four-shot cushion over John atop the leaderboard<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n His advantage had been reduced to three when inclement weather forced play to be suspended at 11.47am, with the leading group of Ham, who had two birdies and a double-bogey up to that point, John and\u00a0Ishizaka\u00a0having completed seven holes.<\/p>\n The battle for the title intensified when the round resumed after a\u00a03\u00bd-hour wait, as John sank a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-four ninth hole to cut the gap with Ham to two strokes.<\/p>\n The world No. 282 kept the pressure on with a string of birdies from holes No. 12 to 14, coming within a stroke of Ham, who posted birdies of his own on the 13th and 14th holes.<\/p>\n But the latter prevailed as he earned a birdie on the par-five final hole, while John made par.<\/p>\n \u201cFirstly, John\u2019s flow was great and much better than mine. But there\u2019s no such thing as an easy win. I\u2019ve had similar experiences like this in Korea so I just told myself to go all the way and was able to get the win,\u201d\u00a0said Ham, who picked up the\u00a0winner\u2019s cheque of US$360,000.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly I was feeling very calm because I was sure I wasn\u2019t going to win \u2013 that the win wasn\u2019t mine in the first place, so I was just playing my golf. John did well but I too improved towards the end so I feel very satisfied.\u201d<\/p>\n The\u00a02023 Korean Professional Golf Association Korean Tour Player of the Year\u2019s feat was even more impressive given that he had played only 24 Asian Tour events, having plied his trade mostly back home.<\/p>\n By finishing in the top two, Ham and John clinched spots at the July 16-19 British Open at Royal Birkdale.<\/p>\n The 31-year-old said:\u00a0\u201cHaving Korean and Asian players play in The Open was something that I could only be envious of, and I didn\u2019t expect that a dream could become a reality.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Open will be a new experience for me, but I\u2019m going to go there and drink a lot of whisky and have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n SPH Media chief executive officer Chan Yeng Kit (left) presenting the trophy to Ham Jeong-woo from South Korea for winning the Singapore Open presented by The Business Times at Sentosa Golf Club\u2019s Serapong Course on April 26, 2026.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Although John narrowly missed out on the title in Singapore, he was pleased to get his ticket to the British Open.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cMy game feels like it\u2019s in a really good place. Today was a different test mentally.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Open spot was definitely on my mind, but I felt like I managed it well.<\/p>\n \u201cLooking back, it\u2019s been an incredible year and I\u2019m really grateful for the people around me who support and help me.\u201d<\/p>\n Dive into all the sporting action and trends in Singapore with ST\u2019s\u00a0weekly newsletter.<\/u><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/picture><\/div>
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