Lee Kyung-hoon 1 Under Par "I Like the Bear Trap"... 'Number 3' Koepka at 4 Over Par

Honda Classic Day 1 Tied 11th, Lewis and English Share Lead at 4 Under, Im Sungjae Tied 63rd at 2 Over

[Asia Economy Golf Specialist Reporter Kim Hyun-joon] This is Lee Kyung-hoon’s (29, CJ Logistics, photo) early sprint.

On the 28th (Korean time), at the PGA National Golf Club (par 70, 7,125 yards) in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA, Lee Kyung-hoon recorded 1-under par on the first day of the PGA Tour Honda Classic (total prize money $7 million), currently tied for 11th place. Tom Lewis (England) and Harris English (USA) lead jointly at 4-under par, while five players including Jack Johnson (USA) are chasing from a tie for 3rd place at 3-under par. World No. 3 Brooks Koepka (USA) struggled, tied for 103rd at 4-over par.

Lee Kyung-hoon made exactly one birdie without any bogeys. That birdie came on the 15th hole (par 3), where the 'Bear Trap'?known as the toughest part of PGA National?begins, sinking a 3.6-meter birdie putt. He parred the remaining 17 holes. He unleashed drives up to 317 yards and, despite missing the green seven times, his miraculous short game skills kept his score intact. Above all, his greenside bunker shots stood out.

Lee Kyung-hoon was the gold medalist in the team golf event at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. He moved to Japan, winning twice on the Nagashima Shigeo Tour in 2012 and the Honma Tour in 2015. In 2016 and 2017, he built a golden tower by winning back-to-back Korean Opens, the 'national title.' In 2018, ranked 5th on the Korn Ferry (second-tier) Tour money list, he advanced to the PGA Tour last year, successfully making a smooth landing with two top-10 finishes in 30 tournaments.

World No. 3 Brooks Koepka is making a bunker shot on the 3rd hole on the first day of the Honda Classic. Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA = Getty Images / Multibits

Lee Kyung-hoon’s perfect match with the course, where he tied for 7th last year, is welcome. On the final day last year, starting tied for 2nd place just one stroke behind, he lost a stroke and missed out on his first PGA Tour victory, leaving some regret. In Korea, Im Sung-jae (22, CJ Logistics) follows at tied 63rd with 2-over par. No Seung-yeol (29) is tied 120th at 5-over par, An Byeong-hoon (29) tied 132nd at 6-over par, and Kim Si-woo (25, all CJ Logistics) is tied 138th at 7-over par.

It is interesting that all the strong contenders are struggling. Koepka suffered a critical blow with a triple bogey after his tee shot at the 6th hole (par 4) landed in the water. Although he has been focusing on rehabilitation since knee surgery last October, he still seems to be struggling to regain his competitive shot feel. His recent results show a downward trend: tied 34th at the European Tour Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, tied 17th at the Saudi International, and tied 43rd at the PGA Tour Genesis Invitational.

Defending champion Keith Mitchell (USA) is tied 120th, worrying about missing the cut rather than defending his title. Ricky Fowler (USA), the 2017 winner, is also struggling, tied 132nd. His iron shot green hit rate dropped sharply to 44.44%, resulting in seven bogeys (one birdie), and he struggled on the greens with an average of 2.00 putts per hole. Viktor Hovland (Norway), who won the Puerto Rico Open that ended on the 24th, fell to tied 138th.