Kim wins Casio World Open with record 32-under

American Chan Kim has won the Casio World Open Golf Tournament on the Japan Tour finishing with an impressive 32-under-par total for a six stroke win over Japan’s Aguri Iwasaki.

The 32-year-old secured his eighth JGTO title with a wire-to-wire win, his score the lowest-ever 72-hole score in Japan Tour history. The previous tournament record was 28-under set by South Korea’s In-hoi Hur at the Toshin Golf Tournament.

Chan Kim (Credit: Japan Tour)

“For the final round, I wanted to play well and was hoping to get to 30-under,” said Kim. “I knew if I could do that, I would win. I’m so happy it went so well and I managed to break the JGTO scoring record for the 72-hole. I hope it will remain for a very long time.”

Starting the final round with just a one-shot lead over Iwasaki, Kim turned it into a romp with four birdies on the front nine.

After the turn, he continued his impressive form by firing six more birdies including a hat-trick gain in the closing three holes to record a 62 and a 32-under-par total.

Kim was born in Suwon, South Korea, but grew up in Hawaii. He played his college golf at Arizona State University and since 2015 he has primarily played the Japan Tour and in 2017 finished in a share of 11th at the Open Championship. His highest world ranking was in 2019 when he was ranked 61st. Sunday’s win sees him move from 184th to 154th.

Brendan Jones was the sole Australian playing this week and finished in a share of 19th position at 15-under-par.