Jeunghun Wang Leads On DP World Tour After Returning From Military Service

Making his sixth professional start since returning from mandatory military service, Jeunghun Wang is in a share of the lead at the Singapore Classic, with the 27-year-old looking to secure a fourth DP World Tour title and his first since the 2017 Qatar Masters.

Featuring a congested leaderboard in Singapore, Wang carded just one birdie over his first nine holes, with his round igniting on the 12th, as five birdies in a row from the 12th to the 16th gave him a share of the lead.

Although he bogeyed the 17th, the South Korean was able to birdie the par 5 last for a 14-under tournament total and a share of the lead with Alejandro del Rey, with 20 players within five shots of the duo.

Following his round, Wang stated: "I think I played really well today and the last two days as well. I changed my putter two weeks ago and that has worked really well. I think that’s the reason I’ve played so well.

"I didn’t really think about birdies. I just kept playing, aiming at the flag and it worked. I still cannot believe I'm here. I’m really excited to play every event. I just try to enjoy it and when I feel bad, or sad, I will think about military service and it makes me feel better! I'm not thinking about winning right now though. I’ll just play my own game tomorrow and hopefully it will work."

Despite securing three DP World Tour victories in an eight month period, Wang had to complete South Korea's mandatory military service, which all able-bodied 18 to 28 year olds must complete.

With the service lasting anywhere from 18 to 24 months, it has affected South Korean golfers previously. Both Seung-Yul Noh and Sangmoon Bae had to take time out of their Tour careers to do their military service, with Noh returning to competition in 2020, and Bae completing his service in 2018.

In 2021, Si Woo Kim And SungJae Im decided to skip The 149th Open Championship in preparation for the Olympic games. By winning an Olympic gold medal they could obtain exemption from national service but, at the event, Im finished 22nd and Kim 32nd.