Japanese Yurika Hushino shared the limelight with Kim when she romped off with the Best Net crown, the first time ever that a lady golfer had won such a title against her male competitors at Dirab.

A taekwondo master, Kim said he had been busy earning a living teaching taekwondo to schoolchildren and adults.

But his game on Friday showed no ill effects of the layoff. Kim rode a hot front nine to score a level par 72 on the 6,905 yards  layout.

Wielding a hot putter, Kim made four birdies including one from the bunker on the par-4 sixth hole for a 32 going out.

Kim birdied the  10th  and bogeyed No. 12 but his only real trouble came when he took an 8 on the par-5 15 after he drove into the trees, got back to the fairway, needed three more shots to get to the green and three-putted. He signed for a 40 coming home after another bogey on 18.

“My putting cooperated with me today and I managed to minimize  my mistakes,” said Kim of his performance.

On a day when strong winds and overcast skies threatened to make life difficult for the golfers 45 minutes before the shotgun start, the petite Yurika shot the round of her life, a 64 from a gross 95, to emerge the Best Net winner.

She beat Tariq Javed by one stroke and the 21-handicap Pakistani settled for the Third Division (19-28 handicap) crown on 65 from a gross score of 86. Fellow Pakistanis Tariq Parvez and Kurshid Ahmed were second and third via the countback on 66.

In the Second Division (10-18), Rak Gi Lee, with a 13 handicap, returned a winning score of 68 with promising Saudi junior player Faisal Salhab and Tariq Sardar second and third on identical 69.

Youthful Omar Khan completed a big day for the Pakistanis as he won the First Division (0-9) on countback from Saudi national team player Fahad Al-Mansour. Omar and Al-Mansour, with a  7 and 6 handicap, had a matching round of 70.

Filipino Richard Gaas, whose handicap is now down to 2 after a string of victories in the recent past, came in third on 73.

The Ladies Division winners were Ganet Bertha (73), Liz Kennedy (75) and Myungok Hwangboo (92).

The awards for longest drive went to Abdullah Hussain and Rita Dadzis and the closest to pin to Alistair McIllroy.

Dirab Group Deputy General Manager Fahad Abunayyan and the executives from the sponsor Alhamrani Fuchs Petroleum Saudi Arabia Ltd. namely Regional Manager Masood Ali Khan and Deputy GM Marketing Ayman Darandary attended the prize-giving cereremony. Also in attendance was Dirab Golf Committee Chairman Nasser Udin Siddiqui.