Kalle Samooja's 18th-hole bogey turns outright Hong Kong Open runner-up spot into a tie

Finland's Kalle Samooja finished joint runner-up at the Link Hong Kong Open on 25 October 2026, but an error on his final hole changed the shape of his result. He posted 265 strokes, 15 under par, across four rounds at Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling. His closing 67 was good enough to share second place with home player Matthew Cheung, yet an outright second-place finish had been within reach until the final moments.

According to Reuters' account of Sunday's finish, Samooja arrived at the 18th hole one stroke ahead of Cheung. A bogey on that closing hole brought the Finn back to 15 under and into a tie with the Hong Kong player. The mistake did not cost him the championship: American John Catlin had already established a five-shot winning margin, ending on 20 under after a final-round 64. For Samooja, however, the difference between second alone and equal second was just that last stroke.

There is considerable merit in the overall performance. Samooja was one of the two closest challengers at an Asian Tour event offering a US$2 million prize fund. A four-round total of 15 under demonstrates the consistency needed to contend at this level. At the same time, the finish illustrates golf's unforgiving arithmetic: one small change on the last green can determine how a full week is recorded, even if it cannot overturn the winner.

The other side of this result belonged to Cheung. His shared runner-up finish was the best achieved by a Hong Kong golfer in the event's 65 editions. Samooja's final-hole bogey therefore coincided with a landmark achievement for a local competitor. Thailand's Jazz Janewattananond and New Zealand's Nick Voke finished two strokes further back at 13 under, sharing fourth.

Samooja has already demonstrated that he can close out a title against an international field. At the 2022 Porsche European Open, he won his first DP World Tour tournament with a course-record final-round 64. That achievement provides useful perspective on his Hong Kong performance: the Finnish player has previously converted a strong closing round into victory, while this time a late dropped shot affected the precise position he took home.

The 2026 Hong Kong Open took place from 22 to 25 October. The Asian Tour's official final-round report confirmed Catlin's win at 20 under and the tie for second between Samooja and Cheung at 15 under. The details above describe the completed tournament; they do not establish any new playing commitment or future result for Samooja.

Sources: Asian Tour, official tournament report dated 25 October 2026; Reuters, final-round report on 25 October; DP World Tour archives, Samooja's 2022 Porsche European Open victory.

Image: archival photograph of the Eden Course at Hong Kong Golf Club (2014), Soybeans / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. The image does not depict Samooja or the 2026 tournament and has not been modified. Original: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eden_Course.JPG Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/