Korean Ryu Hyun-woo won the Ballantine’s Championship Tuho Challenge on Wednesday after ‘holing out’ with a sand-wedge to earn five points, three points clear of a trio of runners-up – Kim Dae-sub, Rafael Jacquelin and Lee Slattery.
Ryu, who won the Coca-Cola Tokai Classic on the Japan Tour last September, earned a bottle of Ballantine’s 17 Year Old for winning the challenge, which was held as part of Wednesday’s Pro-Am.
A fun test of hand/eye coordination, Tuho is a traditional game that involves throwing sticks into a canister and is often played to welcome guests to Korea and introduce them to local culture.
On Tuesday, Korean legend YE Yang and World Number Seven Louis Oosthuizen played Tuho during a photo shoot at Namsangol Hanok Village, ahead of the tournament’s Gala Dinner at Grand Hyatt Seoul.
The following day, the two Major winners were among 55 pros that took part in the more competitive Tuho Challenge.
Players had five attempts at throwing a two-foot stick from two metres away into a canister with three holes, each successful throw earning a point, then five attempts at chipping a golf ball in from five metres.
Only 31 year old Ryu was able to hole out with the ball, earning five points for his spectacular shot, which earned huge cheers from his amateur playing partners.
Kim, Jacquelin and Slattery finished second with two points after holing out with two of five throws into a round target slightly smaller than a golf hole.
Yang and fellow Koreans Bae Sang-moon, Park Sang-hyun and Choi Ho-sung all hit the target with one throw, while the usually dead-eye Oosthuizen missed with all his attempts.
Paul McGinley was among those to come close to holing out with a sand-wedge, the Ryder Cup Captain clipping the rim.
