American Express: 7 Birdies on Day One, 1-Stroke Lead for Hagi, Siwoo Kim Tied 3rd, 19-Year-Old Young Gun Juhyung Kim Tied 39th
Im Sung-jae is holing out at the 18th hole on the first day of the American Express. La Quinta, California, USA = Getty Images / Multibits
[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] "The effect of the new coach."
Byeonghun An (30, CJ Logistics) made an early sprint. On the 22nd (Korean time) at the Nicklaus Tournament Course in La Quinta, California, USA (par 72, 7,152 yards), he shot 7-under par on the first day of the PGA Tour American Express (total prize money $6.7 million) and confidently secured 2nd place. Brandon Hagy (USA) leads with 8-under par, and Siwoo Kim (26) is in a fierce battle for the championship, tied for 3rd place, 2 strokes behind (6-under par 66).
This tournament is famous for its pro-am format, where amateur golfers including sports stars accompany the pros for the first three rounds. However, this year, considering the spread of COVID-19 within the United States, amateur golfers are not participating. The golf course also reduced from three courses last year to only two this year, excluding La Quinta (par 72, 7,060 yards), and holding the event at Nicklaus Tournament and Stadium (par 72, 7,113 yards).
Byeonghun An made 7 birdies. He started well with a birdie on the 4th hole (par 4), followed by consecutive birdies on the 6th and 7th holes, gaining momentum. In the back nine, he swept 3 consecutive birdies from the 11th to the 13th holes and finished pleasantly with a birdie on the 17th hole (par 3). His long drives reached up to 300 yards with a fairway hit rate of 78.57%, showing remarkable accuracy, and above all, his green hit rate of 83.33% with ‘pinpoint iron shots’ was the driving force. He complemented this with an average of 1.53 putts per hole, a ‘stingy putting’ performance.
It is interesting that Byeonghun An recently trained with his new swing coach, Sean Foley. Before the tournament, he introduced, "I adjusted my shot feel while training with Foley for the past six weeks," adding, "Small changes like adjusting the face angle and creating a better setup made my swing much more comfortable." This is a good opportunity to escape the humiliation of missing the cut five times in seven events since the 2021 season began. The second round continuing at the Stadium Course has become even more important.
Siwoo Kim made an eagle on the 5th hole (par 5) and added 3 birdies. Sungjae Im (23) and Kyunghoon Lee (30) are tied for 15th place at 4-under par, 19-year-old young gun Juhyung Kim (both CJ Logistics) is tied for 39th at 3-under par, Seungyul Noh (31) is tied for 132nd at 2-over par, and Sunghoon Kang (34) is tied for 147th at 5-over par. Kevin Na (USA), the Sony Open champion, has hit a red light on his ‘bid for a second consecutive win.’ His iron shots faltered, resulting in 5 bogeys (2 birdies), dropping him to a tie for 143rd at 3-over par.
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