New Year's 'King of Kings' TOC First Day Exciting March
MoriKawa and Ram Tied for Lead, Im SungJae Tied for 5th Place
Kim Joo-hyung (right) is making a chip shot on the 14th hole on the first day of the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Hawaii - Photo by USA Today and Yonhap News Agency
‘PGA drawing card’ Kim Joo-hyung is on a roll.
On the 5th (local time), Kim Joo-hyung shot 8-under par on the first day of the Sentry Tournament of Champions (TOC, total prize money $15 million), the first tournament of the 2022/2023 PGA Tour season, held at Kapalua Plantation Course (par 73, 7,596 yards) on Maui Island, Hawaii, USA, to position himself in 4th place. This is a ‘champion of champions’ event featuring only 39 world-class players including last season’s winners. Among the top 20 players in the world rankings, 17 participated.
Kim Joo-hyung recorded 2 eagles and 5 birdies (1 bogey). After a bogey on the 4th hole (par 4), he immediately recovered with a birdie on the 5th hole (par 5), then made an ‘116-yard shot eagle’ on the 6th hole (par 4). He followed with consecutive birdies on the 9th and 10th holes, another birdie on the 14th hole (par 4), an eagle on the 15th hole, and finished with a birdie on the last 18th hole (also par 5). He is just one stroke behind the co-leaders, marking his second win of the season and third career win, three months after winning the Shriners Children’s Open in October last year.
Kim Joo-hyung became the youngest player to achieve two PGA Tour wins (20 years and 3 months) last August at the Wyndham Championship and Shriners Children’s Open. He is gaining attention in the global golf world with his fluent English skills and spirited play. Recently, he signed a contract with Nike, which sponsors ‘Golf Emperor’ Tiger Woods (USA) and world No.1 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), drawing a spotlight on him.
Jon Rahm (Spain), Collin Morikawa, and J.J. Spaun (both USA) topped the leaderboard with 9-under par 64. World No.2 Scottie Scheffler is tied for 5th place (7-under par 66), and 2016 winner Jordan Spieth (USA) is tied for 11th place (6-under par 67). Meanwhile, 2017 and 2020 winner Justin Thomas (USA) is tied for 26th place (3-under par 70).
Korea’s Im Sung-jae joined the group tied for 5th place by recording 7 birdies without any bogeys. Im performed well in this tournament previously, finishing tied for 5th in 2021 and tied for 8th last year. Lee Kyung-hoon started tied for 17th place (5-under par 68) with 1 eagle and 3 birdies.
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