ONEASIA - Asia Pacific's professional tournament destination for elite golfers

Griffin grabs Korea lead after birdie blitz

JEJU ISLAND, Korea, May 16 - Australian Matt Griffin made the most of perfect conditions to shoot an eight-under-par 64 on Thursday for a one shot lead after the first round of OneAsia's one billion won (around U.S. $900,000) SK Telecom Open on Korea's Jeju Island.

Griffin, a winner in Korea last year at the tour's Charity High1 Resort Open, had nine birdies and a bogey around the 6,732 metre (7,361 yard) par-72 Pinx Golf Club course -- and it could have been even better if not for two three-putts.

Korean veteran Kang Wook-soon surprised even himself to take sole possession of second place, while ten others were jostling for position at six under -- including China's Hu Mu, Australians Anthony Brown and Jason Norris, American David Oh and Michael Long of New Zealand.

Korea's Kim Do-hoon, runner-up at last week's GS Caltex Maekyung Open, was also at six under with countrymen Kang Kyung-nam,  Jang Dong-kyu, Kim Jae-ho and Lee Sung-ho.

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Choi rings changes for SK Telecom Open

JEJU ISLAND, Korea, May 15 - Korea's top golfer K.J. Choi has rung the changes in a bid to recapture the form that has seen him win 18 titles around the world -- including The Players Championship in 2011.

Choi is the star attraction at OneAsia's SK Telecom Open this week, and the stocky former power lifter is keen for a fourth victory at the one billion won (U.S. $900,000) tournament after prevailing in 2003, 2005 and 2008.

Since his famous victory at The Players, when he beat David Toms in a sudden-death play off, Choi has twice won the CJ Invitational on home soil, but has drifted down the Official World Golf Rankings after making the top ten in 2008.

Currently ranked 86th -- he hasn't been out of the top 100 for a decade -- Choi finished tied for 48th at The Players Championship on Sunday and feels his game is coming back.

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OneAsia adds Tour Championship to schedule

HONG KONG, May 14 - OneAsia will add a U.S. $2 million Tour Championship-style event to its calendar as the circuit marks a fifth year of operation with an exciting expanded schedule for the second half of 2013.

The new event will take place at Mission Hills in Shenzhen, and comes as a result of OneAsia's excellent relationship with the China Golf Association (CGA), one of the tour's founding partners alongside the PGA of Australia, the Korea Golf Association and the Korea Golf Tour.

Announcing the schedule for the rest of the year, OneAsia Commissioner and Chairman Sang Y. Chun said the tour had become a valuable member of the global golfing community and was living up to its mission of providing lucrative playing opportunities for the Asia-Pacific's best golfers.

All OneAsia's events carry a minimum purse of around U.S. $1 million, and the prize fund for 2013 totals nearly $15 million.

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Ryu roars up rankings after OneAsia win

SEOUL, May 13 - Korean Ryu Hyun-woo has roared to second place in the OneAsia Order of Merit title race following his victory at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open at the weekend -- and also climbed the Official World Golf Rankings nearly 50 places to 177th.

Ryu held his nerve over the closing stages on Sunday to win by a stroke, and has now earned U.S. $180,228 from four OneAsia tournaments this year despite missing the cut in two of them.

Countryman Choi Ho-sung, winner of the Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia PGA Championship, leads the money race with $198,616 despite withdrawing from the Thailand Open in March after the first round and missing the cut at the Volvo China Open earlier this month.

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