36th on Day 1 of Workday Charity Open, Matsuyama 5 Under Par 3rd, Kim Siwoo and Lee Kyunghoon 1 Under Par Tied 49th 'Chasing Battle'
[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] Kang Sung-hoon (33, CJ Logistics, photo) had a smooth start.
On the 10th (Korean time), at the Workday Charity Open (total prize money $6.2 million) held at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, USA (par 72, 7,392 yards), he scored 2 under par on the first day, tying for 36th place with Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Champ (both USA), and others. Collin Morikawa (USA) leads with 7 under par, Adam Hadwin is second with 6 under par, and four players including Nick Taylor (Canada) and Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) are tied for third at 5 under par.
Kang Sung-hoon recorded five birdies and three bogeys. After a bogey on the first hole, the 10th hole, he gained momentum with consecutive birdies on the 11th and 12th holes, and showed resilience by immediately recovering with a birdie on the 15th hole after a bogey on the 14th hole (both par 4). In the back nine, he maintained steady play with birdies on the 3rd and 7th holes but lost one stroke after his tee shot landed in a bunker on the 8th hole (par 3). Although he hit a long drive of up to 341 yards, his greens in regulation rate was only 61.11%. He is four strokes behind the leader.
Kang Sung-hoon entered the PGA Tour through the 2010 Qualifying (Q) School. After struggling without notable results in 2011 and 2012 and being relegated to the Web.com (second-tier) Tour, he returned to the regular tour in 2016. In May last year, he succeeded on his 159th attempt at the AT&T Byron Nelson. He became the sixth Korean champion in history, following K.J. Choi (50, SK Telecom), Yang Yong-eun (48), Bae Sang-moon (34), Noh Seung-yul (29, Isu Construction), and Kim Si-woo (25, CJ Logistics).
Collin Morikawa is smiling brightly while giving an interview after finishing the first day of the Workday Charity Open as the leader.
Morikawa dominated the leaderboard with one eagle and six birdies (one bogey). He won his first victory at the Barracuda Championship last July. This year, he has made four 'top 10' finishes, including runner-up at last month's Charles Schwab Challenge. Matsuyama, ranked first in the PGA Tour's projected 'power rankings,' reduced his score by five with one eagle, five birdies, and one double bogey. Although he has entered the 'top 10' four times this season, including second place at the Zozo Championship, he has yet to win.
World No. 5 Justin Thomas and Patrick Reed (both USA) are tied for 7th at 4 under par, Jason Day (Australia) is tied for 18th at 3 under par, and 'No. 2' Jon Rahm (Spain), Matthew Wolff, and Rickie Fowler (both USA) are tied for 64th at even par. World No. 6 Brooks Koepka (USA) made three birdies but also had three bogeys and one double bogey, standing at 2 over par tied for 111th, struggling on a thorny path. His younger brother Chase Koepka (USA) also performed poorly, tied for 156th at 8 over par.
Among the Korean contingent, Kim Si-woo recorded four birdies and three bogeys, tied for 49th at 1 under par. Lee Kyung-hoon (29, CJ Logistics) joined this group, looking to climb the ranks. On the other hand, 'PO ranking No. 3' Im Sung-jae (22, CJ Logistics) failed to reduce his score with five birdies, three bogeys, and one double bogey, tied for 64th along with Noh Seung-yul. An Byeong-hun (29, CJ Logistics) is in a critical situation for advancing to the final round, tied for 139th at 4 over par.
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