Seongnam, Korea, May 2: Local hopefuls Taehee Lee and Kyeongjun Lee shared the opening round lead with Gowoong Choi and Sungho Lee after they signed for matching four-under-par 67s at The 38^th GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship on Thursday.

The quartet holds a slender one-shot advantage over Yoseop Seo, who returned with a bogey-free round at the fabled Namseoul Country Club to ensure a strong local presence atop the leaderboard where 18 of the top-24 players are Koreans.

Jongduck Kim, a former winner of the Maekyung Open in 1994, was among the six players, which included two local amateurs, bunched in sixth place on 69s. The 57-year-old Korean is a nine-time winner on the local circuit and a four-time champion on the Japan Golf Tour.

Jongduck Kim of Korea

Soomin Lee, who also carded a 69, was pleased to get his title bid off to a commendable start at the event, which is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Korea Golf Association. He missed out on the Maekyung Open title after losing to Sanghyun Park in a play-off three years ago.

Qualifying School graduate Poom Pattaropong of Thailand nailed three birdies in his opening six holes to grab a share of the early lead but would find himself trailing by one after adding another birdie on the 15th hole.

Poom Pattaropong of Thailand

Poom, unfortunately, slipped further back with a triple-bogey on 16, which was the only blemish in his near-perfect round. He would bounce back by draining a 25-foot birdie putt on the last to sign for a 70 and grab a share of 12^th place alongside a host of players which included countryman Phachara Khongwatmai.

Defending champion Sanghyun Park returned with a 72 to trail by five shots in tied-37^th position in the KR₩1,200,000,000 (approx. US$1,067,000) event, which is celebrating its 38^th edition this week.

The 38th GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship is the first of the three Asian Tour events to be played in Korea this season. It has been dominated by Koreans since 2005. American Mark Calcavecchia was the last foreigner to win the tournament in 2004.

The Namseoul Country Club was opened in 1971 and has been the host venue of the GS Caltex Maekyung Open since 1982 except for five occasions in 1984, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2006.

Did you know?

• Taehee Lee trained under Korean legend Sangho Choi, a two-time winner of the Maekyung Open, at the Namseoul Country Club from 2003 to 2010.
• Taehee entered the week on the back of a tied-sixth place result on his domestic circuit. Also enjoyed a solid season in 2018, claiming one victory and four top-10 finishes on his domestic circuit.
• Taehee won the Genesis Championship in 2018 for his second professional victory. That win earned him two starts on the PGA Tour – The CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges last October and the Genesis Open in February earlier this year.
• The 34-year-old Taehee claimed his first career victory in 2015. He came in tied-55^th at the 2018 Maekyung Open.
• Kyeongjun Lee finished tied-40^th at the 2018 Maekyung Open.
• Kyeongjun plied his trade on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) in 2015 after missing the mark at the Qualifying School that year.
• Soomin Lee is riding high on confidence after notching a top-three result on his local circuit last week.
• Soomin won an event on his domestic circuit in 2013 when he was still an amateur. Turned professional in 2014 and won his first professional title on the Korean Tour in 2015.
• Came through the Asian Tour Qualifying School in 2015 and capped two top-three results to finish in 29^th place on the Order of Merit in his rookie season.
• Soomin would go on to secure his first European Tour victory in China in 2016. That same year, he came close to winning the Maekyung Open but was defeated by compatriot Sanghyun Park in a play-off.
• Poom Pattaropong is playing in his second year as a professional golfer. He finished fifth at the Asian Tour Qualifying School last December to secure his playing rights for the 2019 season. It was his second attempt.
• Poom enjoyed a tied-15^th place result at the Bangladesh Open last month.
• Poom missed the mark in his first attempt at the Qualifying School in 2018 but went on to ply his trade on the ADT where he capped four top-five finishes within a span of two months from August to finish in 15^th place on the Order of Merit.
• Poom graduated from the James Madison University in the United States in December 2017. He is making his debut appearance at the storied event.
• Phachara Khongwatmai enjoyed a tied-12^th place finish at the Maekyung Open last year. He turns 20 years old on Friday.
• He became the youngest winner of a professional tournament when he won on home soil in July 2013 at the age of 14. Came into prominence when he won the 2015 PGM CCM Rahman Putra Championship to become the youngest ADT winner at the age of 15.
• Phachara finished a career-high third place on the Asian Tour Merit standings in 2017, thanks to four top-five finishes which include three runner-up results.
• The Thai grabbed the last Asian Tour card on offer in 2015 when he won his second ADT title at the season-ending event to take the fifth spot on the ADT Order of Merit.