Ahn Byung-hoon, who finished the first day of American Express, is interviewing.
[헤럴드경제 스포츠팀= 남화영 기자] Ahn Byung-hoon (30) finished in second place on the first day of the American Express (PGA) Tour (total prize money of $6.7 million: 7.4 billion won).
In the first round of the tournament held at the Nicklaus Stonenament Course (par 72 7181 yards) in La Quinta, CA on the 22nd (Korean time) on the 22nd (Korean time), Ahn Byeong-hoon caught 7 birdies and wrote a 7-under par 65. Ahn Byung-hoon, who caught the first birdie on the 4th hole in the first half, caught a birdie on the 6th and 7th holes in a row. In the second half, after catching a birdie for three consecutive holes from the 11th hole, he reduced another stroke at the 17th par 3.
After the game, Ahn Byung-hoon said, “Overall, I had a good driver and shot, and I got close to the hole and had a lot of buddy opportunities.” She changed to Tiger Woods coach Sean Foley, and while fixing the long game, she performed well in her first competition. “I had a lot of spin on the shot, but last winter I practiced to improve accuracy,” he said.
Ahn Byung-hoon has been competing in the U.S. tour since 2017 after winning the European Tour BMW Championship and 2015 Korean Tour Shinhan East Sea Open. Last season, he finished at 33rd place in the FedEx Cup points. This season, he came out in 7 competitions and ranked 35th in the Jojo Championships, which was the best, and the score was so low that he was eliminated from the cut in 5 competitions.
Ahn Byung-hoon is adding a birdie in the 17th hole of Nicklauscos.
Brandon Haegi (USA), who played at the Nicklaus Stonenament Course, added the last hole buddy, hitting an 8-under-par 64 with only 10 birdies and 2 bogies, and took the lead. Haegi, second in the world golf rankings, abstained from an injury inflicted before the game, and then played as a waiting player.
Kim Si-Woo (26) played on the PGA West Stadium Course (par 72 7113 yards), tied four birdies to one Eagle and hit a 6 under par 66, ending a tie for third place with Martin Laird (Scotland) and Max Houma (USA). Kim Si-woo, who started from hole 10, caught three birdies in the first half, and recorded a shot eagle with a chip shot in the second half of the par 5 hole 10 meters away.
Korean-American Doug Kim hit a 5 under par 67 and formed a joint 6th place group with Michael Thompson, Tyler Duncan (above America), and Charles Schwezel (South Africa).
Lim Seong-jae (23) and Lee Gyeong-hoon (30) played on the Nicklaus Course, hitting a 4-under-par 68, and were tied for 15th place with James Han and Tony Pinau (USA). Kim Joo-hyung (19) played on the Nicklaus Course and ended up tied for 39th place with Patrick Cantley (USA) after hitting 3 under par 69.
Brooks Kepka (USA), who started their first game this year, hit an even par 72 and placed in the top 100. The organizer of the tournament, Phil Mickelson (USA), struck a 2-over par 74 and fell in the lower ranks with Roh Seung-yeol (30), who started the first game this year. Kang Seong-hoon (34) finished in the lower part with a 5 over par.
This year, this year, only 156 professional players participated in this competition, which was held annually in a pro-am format, and the course is played alternately in rounds 1 and 2, and the second round on the weekend is only played on the stadium course.
Arnold Palmer won five in the previous tournaments that began in 1960, and six people, including Phil Mickelson and Bill Haas (above America), won two. Known for its’desert classic’, American Express participated as the title sponsor last year, and the Michelson Foundation became the host of the competition. PGA West is a masterpiece made by Pete Dai, a master of modern course design, and last year, a Korean company, Korea Industries, bought and operated this course.