Kim aims to establish his legacy on JGTO 

Reigning JGTO money list winner Chan Kim of the United States, is refusing to rest on his laurels just yet.

After becoming only the fourth foreigner to rule the Order of Merit in JGTO's history, the 32-year-old intends to build his own legacy by becoming the first non-Japanese player to win the prestigious title back-to-back.

The other international players who have topped the money list since the Tour's inception in 1973 were American David Ishii (1987), Kyungtae Kim (2010, 2015) and Sangmoon Bae (2011), of South Korea.

While Kyungtae is the only foreigner to accomplish the feat twice, Kim knows just how massive it is for him to become the Tour number one for the second straight year.

"That's definitely the biggest achievement of my career to date. Obviously, I'd like to continue with (winning) the money list," said Kim after opening his Token Homemate Cup campaign with a two-under 69.

"I'm definitely looking forward to playing well again this season and see if I can go back-to-back."

Besides his ambition on JGTO, Kim, a seven-time JGTO winner, revealed that his other two short-term goals are securing his third and fourth start in the PGA Championship and The Open.

Last year, he did well in the two Major meets, finishing tied 23rd in the PGA Championship and tied 53rd in the British Open.

"I'm still not sure about my full schedule yet, but I hope to get into a couple of PGA Tour events," said the world No 84, whose best Major finish was a tied-11th at the 2017 The Open.

"If that happens, I will be flying back and forth a lot. I hope to get into PGA Championship and The Open. Depending on how I play, those two events will judge what I'm going to do (with his tournament schedule) from there.

"But I will try to play in as many tournaments as I can in Japan."

Despite being pegged back by a double-bogey at the last this morning, Kim remains upbeat about his chances at the Token Tado Country Club Nagoya this week.

"I ended with a two-under, that's not too bad," said Kim, who got off to a splendid start from the 10th tee with birdies at 11, 16, 17 and 3. I played solid all day, and it's just the last hole. I was kind of aggressive with the first two putts. My putting was good all day too. 

"There's still a lot of opportunities for sure. I didn't really hit it that good, and I was four-under through 17 holes.

"If I start hitting shots a little better and closer, and my putting stays the way it is, I have a good chance to go low," said Kim.

• チャン・キム