Jeongwoo Ham came to Singapore without thinking about winning. But he left with a trophy, a place at The Open Championship, and second place on the International Series Order of Merit.

The 31-year-old Korean shot rounds of 64, 68, 68, and 68 to win the $2 million Singapore Open by two shots over Cameron John at The Serapong on Sunday.

Ham secured a wire-to-wire victory, maintaining his lead even after a three-hour rain delay during the final round.

"Honestly, I was not thinking at all about winning," Ham said.

"Even today, I was playing just so-so, and I thought I'd be 10th on the leaderboard. I really did well in my putts, but my iron shots were slightly lacking. But thankfully, my putting went well, and it saved the flow of my rounds."

Ham demonstrated his poise with a difficult greenside bunker save on the 13th hole. He was in a difficult position in the greenside bunker, but he made the shot. John replied with a 40-foot birdie putt to keep the pressure on.

Ham made birdies on the 13th, 14th, and 18th holes on the back nine. John stayed close and made a birdie on the 12th to cut the lead to one shot at one point, but he could not catch him.

Jeongwoo Ham Went From Admiring The Open to Earning a Place In It

This was Ham's first Asian Tour win. A seven-time winner as a professional, with four titles on the Korean PGA Tour and two on the Japan Golf Tour.

The Singapore Open is part of the Open Qualifying Series. Both Ham and John earned spots at The Open Championship with their finishes. The win moves Ham to second place on the International Series Order of Merit with 820.87 points, putting him in line for a potential LIV Golf League contract in 2027.

Ham did not hide his excitement about what playing at The Open means to him.

"The Korean and Asian players playing in The Open was something that I could only be envious of," he said. "The Open will be a new experience for me."

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Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Pulkit Prabhav