Asian Games 2023: Taichi Kho hails ‘really special’ day after Hong Kong golfers claim historic medals in Hangzhou
- Kho holds off double South Korean charge to win men’s individual golf tournament
- He combines with Jason Hak, Matthew Cheung and Terrence Ng to take bronze in team event
Taichi Kho had the type of putt every golfer dreams of to win a tournament, knocking his ball in from two inches to clinch gold at the Asian Games on Sunday.
Kho carded a three-under-par 69 to finish at 27 under overall, and was mobbed by teammates almost as soon as he had taken the ball out of the hole, with Hong Kong also taking bronze in the team event.
It was a double dose of history for the city, with Kho, Matthew Cheung Hung-hai, Jason Hak Shun-yat and Terrence Ng Shing-fung claiming Hong Kong’s first ever medals in golf at a Games.
“I was looking at the team leader board all day long,” Kho said. “Those are my guys and it’s a team effort. It’s not really just myself as an individual, but it feels like, you know, the whole group came together for me to be able to do that. It’s really special.”
The city’s newest gold medallist admitted to nerves coming down the 18th fairway, but said his experience of winning the World City Championship in Hong Kong in March had helped.
“I was so incredibly nervous coming down the stretch on both events, that I just feel like this time I had a bit more perspective on everything,” Kho said “So, I feel like this time I was a little more prepared to be in that situation.”
The 22-year-old was made to fight until the very last by South Korean’s Sungjae Im and Jang Yu-bin, who erased the four-shot lead he started the day with and made the back nine a battle of nerves.
Jang got off to a fast start and had wiped out the deficit after the first six holes, grabbing birdies at the second, third and fifth holes before drawing level at 24 under when Kho bogeyed the sixth.
The Hongkonger reasserted himself with back-to-back birdies at eight and nine, and Jang’s challenge disappeared for good with a double bogey at the par-three 16th.
A group in front, Im was putting together a bogey-free round of seven under and moved to 26 under overall when he birdied 17. He had another chance at the last, but his 20ft putt curled away at the final moment.
“I saw Sungjae miss his birdie putt on the last, and just shifted my line on my second shot [into the green],” Kho said.
Kho’s approach left him a long putt for birdie, and he rolled it through a double break to finish inches from dropping in.
“That was probably one of the toughest looks I had all day,” Kho said. “So, for me to be able to kind of have that amount of control with my emotions and my body and everything, really happy. I was still nervous, though.”
While Kho was battling to keep his lead in the race for individual honours, Hak and Cheung were ensuring clear daylight between themselves and the rest in the fight for team medals.
Hak had his best round of the week, shooting a five-under 67 to move to 11 under for the tournament and a tie for 21st.
Cheung had one of those days when his putts did everything but drop, and he finished at one over for the day, 12 under overall, and four places above his teammate.
Hong Kong combined for a finishing total of 50 under, one shot behind Thailand, who edged ahead when Danthai Booma birdied 17 and 18.
South Korea began the day with a 14-shot lead and had extended that to 25 by the end, largely thanks to Im and Si-woo Kim, who also carded a seven-under 65.
Teammate Jang finished at two under for the day after his brief flirtation with gold ended on the back nine.
