9 Under Par Cos Records Thai Jones is the sole leader
[AFP/게티이미지=연합뉴스]
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kwon Hoon = Im Seong-jae (23), who went on defending his first title in the US professional golf (PGA) tour, spent the first day smoothly.
Lim Sung-jae hit a 2-under par 68 in the first round of the PGA Tour Honda Classic (total prize money of $7 million) held at the PGA National Golf Club (par 70) in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA on the 19th (Korean time).
Lim Sung-jae, who was tied for 15th place despite seven strokes behind leading Matt Jones (Australia), who drove 9-under par, took the first step carefully toward defending the title.
Lim Seong-jae, who had 4 birdies and 2 bogies, did not lose a stroke in the 15-17 holes called’Bear Trap’.
On the 15th (par 3), the tee shot fell into the bunker, and on the 17th (par 3), the tee shot fell into the bunker’s jaw, but both times kept the par neatly.
Lim Seong-jae pledged the second round by catching a birdie in the 18th hole (par 5). Both the tee shot and the second shot were the desired direction and distance. The second shot fell on the green and rolled slightly off the green, but there was no difficulty in aiming at the eagle with the putter, and the eagle putt stopped right next to the hole and grabbed a light tap-in birdie.
Lim Seong-jae’s iron shot was shaken to the point where the green hit rate was less than 50%, but the short game and putt were outstanding.
The number of at-bats obtained from short games around the green was 16th in total, and the number of at-bats obtained with putts was ranked in 6th.
Noh Seung-yeol (30), who was eliminated in all three competitions held earlier this year, climbed a tie for 43rd place (even par 70 strokes), laying the groundwork for a sluggish escape.
Noh Seung-yeol, who was losing 3 shots with 4 bogies up to the 14th hole and one birdie, changed the atmosphere at once with an eagle on the 17th hole (par 3) and the 18th hole (par 5).
In the 18th hole, after a strong tee shot that flew 361 yards, it was the second shot with 183 yards left, and dropped 1.6m to the side of the hole to catch the Eagle.
Ahn Byung-hoon (30), who recorded 72 strokes over two over par, was tied for 63rd and was in danger of dropping out of four consecutive cuts. Lee Kyung-hoon (30) also hit a 2-over par 72.
Choi Gyeong-ju (50), who is also a senior tour, submitted 73 strokes for a 3 over par, and Sung-Hoon Kang (34) lost 6 strokes.
Jones, who won the only PGA Tour championship at the 2014 Houston Open, took the lead with only nine birdies.
The 61 stroke is a course record and tie record set by Brian Herman (USA) in the second round of the 2012 tournament.
He only used the putter 24 times that day.
Jones said, “It was a day that didn’t work out,” he said. “I knew when I saw the scoreboard on the 18th hole that I hit so well.”
Aaron Wise and Russell Henry (above the United States) tied for second place with 64 strokes under a 6 under par.
48-year-old No-jang Lee Westwood (England), who is on a strong march for four weeks in a row, hit an even par 70 while complaining of fatigue.
54-year-old veteran Steve Stricker (USA) spewed out five birdies, hitting four-under-par 66, and getting a tie for fourth place.
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2021/03/19 09:52 sent