Lee Soo-min, who was discharged from the military last year, took the lead in the first round of the Hyundai Marine & Marine Insurance Choi Kyung-ju Invitational (total prize money of 1.25 billion won) on the Korea Professional Golf Association (KPGA) Tour.
Lee Soo-min tied seven birdies and one bogey for a 6-under 66 on the first day of the competition held at the Pelham Club (par 72, 7331 yards) in Yeoju, Gyeonggi-do, on the 3rd.
Lee, who is two shots ahead of Lee Gyu-min and Lee Dong-hwan, will seek to regain the hegemony of the championship for the first time in five years since 2019. Lee, who won the title once at the 2016 DP World Tour event, Shenzhen International, has won four KPGA tours. His latest championship was the KPGA Open in July 2020.
“Last year’s performance was really bad, but I came back from the military service last year, and I was able to play with positive thoughts as I ranked 16th in this competition,” said Lee. “My tee shot kept the fairway well, and when it was important, I followed my putt, so I was able to score good points.” After being discharged from the military, Lee reportedly suffered from a lack of tee shot. After finding the accuracy of this year’s tee shot to a certain extent, Lee said that he was overcoming the short game by training hard as he faltered.
Hwang In-chun, a 50-year-old veteran who won the competition in 2017, tied for fourth with Lee Sang-hee at 3-under 69.
Ham Jung-woo, who won the competition in 2021 and last year, Jang Yoo-bin, the No. 1 Genesis point winner this year, and Kim Min-kyu, the No. 1 prize winner, tied for sixth place with a 2-under 70.
Jang Yoo-bin hit his second shot on the 13th hole (par 4) from the bunker and put it on the green, but he confirmed that it was not his ball on the green and received two penalties for a five-ball play. 메이저사이트
In an interview after the game, Jang Yoo-bin said, “I thought I sent the ball near the bunker, so I hit it thinking it was my ball,” adding, “When I went up to the green, it wasn’t my ball, and when I talked to my teammates and went to find the ball again, the ball was buried in the rough in front of the bunker.” Jang Yoo-bin added, “I thought, “It’s ruined as soon as I checked it! But I tried to finish the rest of the holes well because it’s past and it’s my mistake.”
Choi, who set the KPGA Tour’s oldest championship record (54 years old) at the SK Telecom Open in May this year, tied for 51st (2 over par) with one birdie and three bogeys.
