Kim Si-woo Starts Again 2017… On the first day, 3-under “Good Shot”.
Kim Si-woo was at the top of the PGA Tour’s “fifth major tournament” Players Championship (total prize money of $25 million).
Kim Si-woo took a 3-under 69 with seven birdies and four bogeys in the first round held at the TPC Sogras Stadium Course (par 72) in Pontevedra Beach, Florida on the 9th. The first round was postponed because many players could not finish the game until sunset due to the delay in progress. Chad Raimi (U.S.) is the leader among the players who finished the game with an 8-under 64, while Kim Si-woo tied for 12th. Kim Si-woo set the youngest winning record in the tournament in 2017 and reached the top of the Sony Open in January. After the first round, Kim Si-woo said, “Overall, I had a good sense of shot, and the wind blew in the second half, but I focused as much as I could.” Korean-American Justin Seo of the U.S. had six birdies and one bogey, five under par (joint third place) and Australian-American Lee Min-woo had a four-under 68 (joint sixth place).
The PGA Tour planned the first and second round together event for world No. 1 Jon Lam (Spain), No. 2 Scotty Schaeffler (USA), and No. 3 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), and Schaeffler was the most advanced with a 4-under 68 (joint 6th place). Lam was sluggish with a 1-under 71 (joint 32nd) and McIlroy with a 4-over 76 (joint 118th). Kurt Kitayama (USA), who topped the Arnold Palmer Invitational on the 6th, finished only one over par (jointly 72nd). Ahn Byung-hoon, who recently got his second child, is one under par and Lee Kyung-hoon is one over par. Im Sung-jae was on the verge of eliminating the cut with three over par (109th place). 안전공원
Meanwhile, Hayden Buckley (U.S.) had the luck of a hole-in-one on the infamous 17th hole (par 3) Island Green. It is the 40th hole-in-one of the tournament, which began in 1974, the 35th hole-in-one since 1977, and the 11th hole-in-one in the 17th hole since 1977. Buckley is the second hole-in-one following the 17th hole on the first day of the 2021 Shriners Children’s Open. But Buckley didn’t do well at 1-over.
