{"id":580983,"date":"2026-04-02T15:42:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T15:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/580983\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T15:42:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T15:42:09","slug":"liv-golfs-song-eager-to-reignite-japan-form-on-international-series-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/580983\/","title":{"rendered":"LIV Golf&#8217;s Song eager to reignite Japan form on International Series return"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>LIV Golf&#8217;s Korean GC star Younghan Song picked up right where he left off at Caledonian Golf Club, returning to one of his most successful stops on The International Series calendar with a strong opening statement.<\/p>\n<p>The Korean, who finished runner-up at International Series Japan last year, opened his campaign at this year&#8217;s event with a six-under-par 65 to sit tied for second alongside Thailand&#8217;s Poom Saksansin, just one shot behind leader Hongtaek Kim.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/younghan-song.webp.webp\" alt=\"Younghan Song\" width=\"auto\" height=\"auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Back at a venue that clearly suits his eye, Song is drawing confidence from familiar territory as he looks to replicate, and potentially surpass, last year&#8217;s breakthrough performance.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I wasn&#8217;t playing particularly well coming in, but we had good weather today, which helped,&#8221; said Song. &#8220;I also have good memories on this course, so I just tried to focus on each shot and that allowed me to play well.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It would be great to match last year&#8217;s result, and hopefully push for something even better.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Song&#8217;s 2025 campaign in Japan was one of consistency and composure, highlighted by rounds of 65-67-68-69 to secure a tied second finish, just five shots behind eventual champion Lucas Herbert. A memorable ace on the fifth hole, struck with a 9-iron from 159 yards, added further gloss to an already standout week.<\/p>\n<p>While his putting was a defining strength in that performance, Song acknowledges that his game has evolved over the past year.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Last year, my putting was very strong, I ranked first in putting, but this year it hasn&#8217;t been as good,&#8221; he said. &#8220;On the other hand, my ball-striking has improved, so it&#8217;s a bit different compared to last year.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/younghan-song-korean-gc.webp.webp\" alt=\"Younghan Song at Korean GC\" width=\"auto\" height=\"auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Now competing on LIV Golf as part of Korean GC, Song continues to build momentum in a new environment, with a strong showing at LIV Golf South Africa a few weeks ago underlining his progress.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m really enjoying it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a new environment and everything feels different. The level of competition is very high, with many top-ranked players, so it&#8217;s been a great learning experience.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As one of the players who has successfully made the step onto LIV Golf, Song also recognises the importance of The International Series as a pathway for emerging talent.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Just focus on playing solid golf and trust that the opportunities will come,&#8221; he said. &#8220;LIV Golf is a great League and an amazing experience, so I&#8217;d encourage players to keep working hard and do their best on The International Series to get there.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LIV Golf&#8217;s Korean GC star Younghan Song picked up right where he left off at Caledonian Golf Club,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":580984,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-580983","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}