Kang Sung-hoon (; born 4 June 1987), also known as Sung Kang, is a South Korean professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

er who plays on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

. He won the 2019 AT&T Byron Nelson, his first win on the

Amateur career

In April 2006 Kang won the SBS Lotte Skyhill Open, the opening event of the

Korean Tour The Korean Tour is a men's professional golf tour run by the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) of South Korea. In 2011, it had total prize money of about United States dollar, US$14 million. Professional golf in Korea dates back to ...

season. Later in the month he played in the 2006

Bonallack Trophy The Bonallack Trophy is an amateur golf competition on the model of the Ryder Cup which opposes every two years a European team and a team representing Asia/Pacific. The venue alternates between courses in Europe and Asia/Pacific. The first compe ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, representing Asia/Pacific against Europe. In October he represented South Korea in the 2006 Eisenhower Trophy in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The team finished 5th while Kang had the 6th best individual score. He was also the gold medalist at the

2006 Asian Games The 2006 Asian Games (), officially known as the XV Asiad or 15th Asian Games (, and commonly known as Doha 2006 (), were an Asian multi-sport event held in Doha, Qatar, from December 1 to 15, 2006, with 424 events in 39 sports featured in the ga ...

, which exempted him from mandatory military service.

Professional career

Kang turned professional in 2007 and joined the

. He first gained international prominence in 2009 when he lost in a playoff for the Ballantine's Championship, a tournament co-sanctioned by the Korean Tour, the

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

and the

Asian Tour The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf professional golf tours, tour in Asia except for Japan (which has its own Japan Golf Tour). It is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on ...

. In 2010 Kang won for his first Korean Tour event as a professional at the Eugene Securities Open, and ended the season by finished tied for 16th place in the PGA Tour

qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

to gain a place on the tour for 2011. In May 2011, Kang lost a playoff for the

BMW Charity Pro-Am The BMW Charity Pro-Am is a golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour. It is currently played at Thornblade Club (host course) in Greer, South Carolina and The Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg, South Carolina. From 1992 to 2000, the event was p ...

on the

Nationwide Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. ...

. The following month, he qualified for the U. S. Open, his first

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

, and finished in a tie for 39th. Kang retained his PGA Tour card for 2012, helped by finishing tied for third place at the Children's Miracle Network Classic, ending the season 120th on the money list. In October 2011 he was a runner-up in the Shinhan Donghae Open, a

event, finishing a stroke behind

Paul Casey Paul Alexander Casey (born 21 July 1977) is an English golfer who is a member of LIV Golf. He has also played on the US-based PGA Tour and the European Tour. In 2009, he achieved his highest position, third, in the Official World Golf Rankin ...

. 2012 was a much less successful season and he failed to retain his place on the tour. Kang played on the

Web.com Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. T ...

from 2013 to 2015. In October 2013 he won two tournaments in Korea in successive weeks, the CJ Invitational and the Kolon Korea Open. He did not win on the Web.com Tour but was runner-up in the

Utah Championship The Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank and Intermountain Health is a professional golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour, played at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington, Utah. One of the original tournaments of the 1990 Ben Hogan Tour ...

in both 2014 and 2015, losing in a playoff in 2015 to Patton Kizzire. He finished 2015 in 22nd place in the

regular season standings to earn a return to the

for 2016. Since 2016 Kang has played on the

. At the 2016

AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held annually at Pebble Beach, California, near Carmel. The tournament is usually held during the month of February on two different courses, currently Pebble Beach ...

, Kang shot a course record 60 during the second round at the Monterrey Peninsula course. This took him into a share of the lead moving into the weekend: he finished the tournament tied for 17th. The following two weeks he finished in the top 10 in the

Northern Trust Open The Genesis Invitational is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Southern California, first played in 1926 as the Los Angeles Open. Other previous names include Genesis Open, Northern Trust Open and Nissan Open. Played annually in ...

and The Honda Classic. In April 2017, Kang took a three shot lead into the final round of the Shell Houston Open, the first time in his career he had held the 54-hole lead in a PGA Tour event. He finished second to Russell Henley. Two weeks later a good result in the

RBC Heritage The RBC Heritage, known for much of its history as the Heritage Classic or simply The Heritage, is a PGA Tour event in South Carolina, first played in 1969. It is currently played in mid-April, the week after The Masters in Augusta, Georgia. ...

moved him into the top-100 of the world rankings for the first time, receiving an entry to the 2017 PGA Championship. He also finished tied for 5th in the

Quicken Loans National The National, originally titled for sponsorship reasons as the AT&T National and later as the Quicken Loans National, was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 2007 to 2018. It was hosted by Tiger Woods and benefited the Tiger Woods ...

, one of the Open Qualifying Series, to get an entry to the 2017 Open Championship. He tied for 44th place in both his 2017 major appearances. In July 2018, Kang was involved in a rules controversy at the

tournament when he was accused of cheating by his playing partner Joel Dahmen. On the dogleg-left 566-yard par-5 10th hole, Kang's second shot landed in the hazard left of the green. After a short search, a spotter located Kang's ball some 5 to 8 yards into the hazard. There was no way Kang could play the ball. Instead, he began pointing to the spot at which he thought it had entered the hazard; nearly pin-high. Because the 10th hole is a dogleg left with a hazard all the way down the left side, Kang's ball would have needed to re-cross the hazard nearer the green in order to earn the drop he was requesting. The exact line his ball had taken en route to its final resting place thus came under careful scrutiny. There was a discussion with a rules official, Dahmen and Kang which reached an impasse as another group played through. After further discussion, Kang conceded that his ball more likely crossed the hazard 35 yards from the pin rather than his first suggestion. Kang dropped the ball at a point 37 yards from the hole, hit his approach to 17 feet, and holed the putt for a par. Later that night, Dahmen accused Kang of cheating on Twitter. The PGA Tour released a statement indicating that they regarded the issue as closed: "With no clear evidence to prove otherwise, it was determined by the official that Kang could proceed with his fourth shot as intended, following a penalty stroke and subsequent drop. The PGA Tour will have no additional comment on this matter." Kang finished third in the event, his best result of the season, and earned a place in the field for the 2018 Open Championship, while Dahmen finished T23. In May 2019, Kang won the AT&T Byron Nelson for his first PGA Tour victory in his 159th start. He matched the course record with a 10-under 61 in the second round, and matched the tournament record with a 23-under 261 total.

Personal life

Kang and his wife, Kang So-young, have a son.

Professional wins (5)

PGA Tour wins (1)

Asian Tour wins (1)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

Asian Tour playoff record (0–1)

OneAsia Tour wins (1)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

Korean Tour wins (4)

''*Note: The 2006 SBS Lotte Skyhill Open was shortened to 54 holes due to strong winds.''
¹Co-sanctioned by the

²Co-sanctioned by the

OneAsia Tour The OneAsia Tour was a men's professional golf tour based in the Asia-Pacific region. The tour was founded in 2009 as a joint venture between the PGA Tour of Australasia, the China Golf Association, the Korean Golf Association and the Korean P ...

Korean Tour playoff record (0–2)

Playoff record

European Tour playoff record (0–1) Web.com Tour playoff record (0–2)

Results in major championships

''Results not in chronological order in 2020.'' CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = no tournament due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2011 U.S. Open – 2019 PGA Championship) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Cancelled after the first round due to the

Results in World Golf Championships

¹Cancelled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied

Team appearances

Amateur *

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958 Eisenhower Trophy, 1958, it is nam ...

(representing South Korea):

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

(representing Asia/Pacific): 2006 Professional * EurAsia Cup (representing Asia):

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kang, Sung-hoon South Korean male golfers PGA Tour golfers Asian Tour golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates Asian Games medalists in golf Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Golfers at the 2006 Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Yonsei University alumni Sportspeople from Jeju City 1987 births Living people 21st-century South Korean sportsmen