Seoul, Korea: Reality struck for Korean amateurs An Seong-hyeon and Yu Min-hyeok on the final day of the 44th GS Caltex Maekyung Open.

Heading into Sunday’s final round at NamSeoul Country Club, An was four shots off the pace in a tie for eighth with Yu one stroke further back in equal 14th.

But after three outstanding days, the amateur duo learned the hard facts of professional golf as they signed off with rounds of 84 and 82 respectively to spiral down the leaderboard.

It was a particularly sobering conclusion to the tournament for 15-year-old An, who fired a 66 on day one to hold a share of the opening-round lead.

An, who wrote his name into the record books last year by becoming the first Korean to win The R&A Junior Open, began the final day brightly enough with three pars followed by a birdie at the long fourth.

From there, though, it was all downhill as he covered the final 14 holes in 14-over, including back-to-back eights at the par-four 13th and par-five 14th.

Out in 38 and back in 46, the national team player who’s 465th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) ended the Asian Tour event in joint 66th on nine-over 293.

Less than a month after finishing third in The Royal Junior in Japan, Yu also found the final-day going tough.

After three successive rounds of 70, Yu flagged with seven bogeys, one double and, like An, an eight at the unlucky 13th.

The second highest rated Korean in the WAGR in 210th place, Yu finished one shot better off than An on 282 in equal 61st place.

Victory went to Min Do-yeob who fired a stunning closing eight-under 63 to overturn a six-stroke overnight deficit and win by three.

Two members of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation’s triumphant Bonallack Trophy team from 2023 also fared well.

Korean Cho Woo-young ended alone in fifth while China’s Sampson Zheng was tied for 20th. Both played key roles in the defeat of the European Golf Association at La Manga in Spain two years ago while still amateurs.