Farmers Insurance Open Day 1 Tied 21st, Bradley and Cappelen Share Lead at 6 Under, McIlroy Tied 3rd
Tiger Woods is taking a shot at the 10th hole on the first day of the Farmers Insurance Open. San Diego, California, USA = Getty Images / Multibits
[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] "3-under-par, tied for 21st."
This is the scorecard for 'the returned golf emperor' Tiger Woods (USA) in his first round of 2020. On the 24th (Korean time), the first round of the PGA Tour Farmers Insurance Open (total prize money $7.5 million) was held at Torrey Pines Golf Course North Course (par 72, 7,258 yards) in San Diego, California, USA. Keegan Bradley (USA) and Sebastian Cappelen (Denmark) are tied for the lead at 6-under-par, while Im Sung-jae (22) and An Byeong-hun (29, both from CJ Logistics) are chasing in a tie for 3rd place, one stroke behind (5-under-par 67).
Woods is challenging the record for the most PGA Tour wins (83 wins). He made a perfect comeback by winning the Masters in April last year, and with his victory at the Zozo Championship in October, which is included in the 2020 season, he tied the record of Sam Snead (USA) with 82 wins. Torrey Pines is especially his 'winning stronghold.' He swept up 7 wins, including the remarkable achievement of four consecutive wins from 2005 to 2008, and in June 2008 at the US Open, after a 91-hole battle, he secured his 14th major victory.
On this day, he recorded 5 birdies and 2 bogeys. Starting at the 10th hole (par 5), he exchanged 2 birdies and 2 bogeys to tune his practical shot sense, then picked up 3 birdies consecutively on the 1st, 5th, and 9th holes in the back nine. He unleashed a long drive of up to 303 yards, achieved a greens-in-regulation rate of 72.22% with his iron shots, and averaged 1.69 putts per hole. The second round, played on the relatively more difficult South Course (par 72, 7,765 yards), has become even more important.
This tournament plays the first and second rounds on the South and North Courses, respectively, and then the third and fourth rounds again on the South Course. This is why most players who played on the North Course have dominated the top of the leaderboard. Cappelen’s performance, shooting 6-under-par on the South Course, is remarkable. Im Sung-jae and An Byeong-hun each reduced 5 strokes on the North Course. "Tomorrow, although the course is long, the fairways are narrow, so accuracy off the tee will be key," they resolved.
World No. 2 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) joined the tie for 3rd place. It is meaningful that he will clash with Woods. The upcoming Masters in April is the last puzzle piece toward the 'career Grand Slam.' Bubba Watson (USA) emerged as a dark horse by shooting 5-under-par on the South Course. For Korea, Kang Sung-hoon (33, CJ Logistics) is tied for 21st, Choi Kyung-ju (50, SK Telecom) is tied for 71st at even par, Lee Kyung-hoon (29) is tied for 87th at 1-over-par, and Noh Seung-yul (29) is tied for 148th at 6-over-par.
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