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Bae falters in final round of PGA Tour playoff event

August 31, 2015
South Korean golfer Bae Sang-moon (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

South Korean golfer Bae Sang-moon (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — South Korean Bae Sang-moon faltered in the final round of a PGA Tour playoff event on Sunday, missing a chance for victory before his mandatory military service.

Bae shot a two-over 72 on the last day at The Barclays at Plainfield Country Club in New Jersey, settling for a three-way tie for sixth place at nine-under overall after the first leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

The South Korean began the final round tied for the lead at 11-under with Jason Day, the reigning PGA Championship winner. Bae, however, shot himself out of contention with four bogeys on the front nine, and had five bogeys and three birdies for the round.

Day cruised to a six-stroke victory over Henrik Stenson thanks to a blistering final round of 62, a bogey-free score that featured eight birdies. It was Day’s fourth win this season, tying him with Jordan Spieth.

Bae is a two-time PGA Tour winner, his last victory having come at the 2014-2015 season opener, Frys.com Open, last October.

The 29-year-old recently lost a legal battle with the local military manpower agency over an extension of his overseas travel permit, as a court ruled that he’d spent too much time in South Korea despite holding a U.S. green card.

Bae has decided not to appeal, but he plans to play out the FedEx Cup before coming home.

Bae also blew a chance to secure a spot on the International Team for the Presidents Cup, which will come to Asia for the first time this year, with Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon, west of Seoul, as the host of the Oct. 6-11 event. Bae entered The Barclays ranked 25th and would have jumped to seventh with a victory in New Jersey, with one week to go before the team is finalized.

The 10 best non-European and non-American players on the world rankings will automatically qualify for the International Team, while captain Nick Price will make two captain’s picks to round out the 12-man squad. No South Korean is currently inside the top 10, though Danny Lee, a South Korean-born Kiwi, is No. 10.