Commercial Bank Qatar Masters Day 1 Mid-Field Start, Bertasio Tied 2nd, Lee Taehee Tied 123rd
Mungyeongjun shot 1-under par on the first day of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, starting tied for 57th place. Photo by NH Nonghyup Bank
[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] Munkyeongjun (39, NH Nonghyup Bank) had a steady start to the season.
On the 12th (Korean time) at the Education City Golf Club in Doha, Qatar (par 71, 7,307 yards), he shot 1-under par on the first day of the European Tour Commercial Bank Qatar Masters (total prize money $1.5 million) and tied for 57th place. David Law (Scotland) dominated the top of the leaderboard with 7-under par 64 strokes, while Nino Bertasio (Italy), Henry du Plessis (South Africa), and Richard McEvoy (England) are tied for 2nd place at 6-under par 65 strokes.
Munkyeongjun recorded 3 birdies and 2 bogeys. Starting at the 10th hole, he recovered a bogey on the 11th hole (both par 4) with a birdie on the 13th hole, but in the back nine, a birdie on the 2nd hole (par 5) was offset by a bogey on the 3rd hole (par 4). Fortunately, he secured a birdie on the 7th hole (par 4) to finish the round under par. His fairway hit rate was 49.6%, and green in regulation was 66.5%, with shaky shots making it difficult to find birdie opportunities. He averaged 1.8 putts per hole. He was 6 strokes behind the leader.
Munkyeongjun is the player who won once at the 2015 Maekyung Open. In 2019, he won four titles including the Player of the Year and lowest scoring average awards, and notably earned a 'direct ticket to Europe' as the No. 1 in the Korean Tour Genesis Points ranking. The European Tour was suspended last year due to COVID-19, and those with tour cards were already granted eligibility to play this year. After this tournament, he is scheduled to participate in three consecutive European Tour events including the Magical Kenya Open and Kenya Savannah Classic.
Law swept up 7 birdies without any bogeys, showing great momentum. He won the 2019 ISPS Handa Vic Open trophy. Thomas Detry (Belgium) is tied for 6th place at 5-under par 66 strokes, while Georgi Coetzee (South Africa) and Kurt Kitayama (USA) are tied for 10th place at 4-under par 67 strokes. From Korea, Jang Igeun (28, Shinhan Financial Group) reduced 1 stroke with 1 eagle, 1 birdie, and 2 bogeys, tying for 57th place. Lee Taehee (37, OK Savings Bank) struggled, tied for 123rd place at 4-over par 75 strokes.
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