Asian Tour Success for Ex-Bonallack Trophy Standout

Manila, Philippines: Two years after being part of the Korean team that famously claimed the gold medal at the Asian Games, Cho Woo-young has become a winner on the Asian Tour for the first time after triumphing at the Philippine Golf Championship presented by Philippine Sports Commission.

He registered a hard-fought victory following stiff resistance from Pavit Tangkamolprasert, beating the Thai by four shots on the unforgiving East Course at Wack Wack Golf & Country Club.

Cho, two behind overnight leader Karandeep Kochhar from India at the start of the day, fired a final round five-under-par 67, for a four-round total of 11-under in the opening event of the season on the Asian Tour.

He and Pavit played together in the second from last group and made it a two-horse race for much of the day.

The 24-year-old Korean dropped his only shot of the day on the opening hole but took the lead with birdies on two and three. Although he was never caught, Pavit made him work hard until the very end.

Cho made crucial par saves on 11 and 12 and led by two with two holes to play but both front-runners missed the green on the challenging par-three 17th.  Pavit then hit a brilliant bunker shot to six feet to give himself a fighting chance, but he missed his par putt while Cho holed his from a slightly shorter distance. Soon after, the Korean finished in style with a birdie on the par-four 18th.

“It feels very amazing,” said Cho, a member of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation’s triumphant team against the European Golf Association in the Ryder Cup-style Bonallack Trophy in Spain in 2023, who turned professional immediately after winning Asian Games gold.

“This is my first event in 2026. I started off the season very well and I really enjoyed it. The most important thing in my game today were the saves on 11 and 12. On hole 11 I just wanted to make bogey, just an easy bogey, but I was lucky to make par. On hole number 12 I think it was very important to make par as well. That’s why I won this tournament.”

The par save on 17 was equally key to his victory. He explained: “I just wanted to hit the green, but I missed it right. I didn’t care about Pavit’s ball, whether he’s on the green or not. I just wanted to save a par. That chip to the green was very, very good to make the par.”

He earned a cheque for US$90,000 plus another US$10,000 for carding the lowest round of the day, which the club sponsored for each round.

His previous best finish on the Asian Tour was second place at the Bharath Classic towards the end of last year. He is also a two-time winner on the Korean PGA Tour, once in 2023 as an amateur and then in 2024 in his first full season as a member of the paid ranks.

His team-mates in the Korean side that won the Asian Games were PGA Tour stars Kim Si-woo and Im Sung-jae, plus Jang Yu-bin.

Pavit was trying to win an Asian Tour event for the first time since 2019. He said: “I played my best today – hitting good irons, giving myself a chance. I hit it in the fairways, and I was hoping my putts would drop. But congrats to Woo-young. He made some really important putts on the back nine. I was trying to get my momentum back, but I couldn’t do it.”

Australian Travis Smyth returned a 73 to take third place, six strokes behind Cho, while Kochhar shot a 77 for fourth, two further adrift.

The Asian Tour ventures to the Southern Hemisphere next for the 105th New Zealand Open presented by Millbrook Resort. The event, which has been part of the Asian Tour since 2018, will be played at Millbrook Golf Resort in Queenstown, from February 26 to March 1.