Thomas Dechampo, McIlroy, etc.
Lim Seong-jae (23) won the first match in the World Golf Championship (WGC) Dell Technology match play (total prize money of $10.5 million).
Lim Sung-jae beat Russell Henry (USA) by one hole in the first leg of the group stage of the tournament held at the Austin Country Club (par 71) in Austin, Texas on the 25th (Korean time).
Im Sung-jae, who played a one-sided game leading up to the 3rd hole by pulling out 2 buddies up to the 9th hole, was kicked out by giving Henry the 10th and 11th holes, but enduring the 18th hole and away from the pursuit.
With this, Seong-jae Lim has successfully crossed the first gateway to advance to the round of 16.
“I played match play for the first time, but it was a lot of tension and it was fun,” said Lim Seong-jae, “I hope that the two remaining (group league) matches will be good and will definitely reach the round of 16.
Im Seong-jae, who won 3 wins in the 2019 Presidents Cup, said, “The match play is not in a hurry and there is not a lot of feeling of being chased.”
Kim Si-woo (26) ended the first game with Tommy Fleetwood (England) in a draw.
Kim Si-woo was one hole ahead of the 17th hole, but Fleetwood made a draw with a birdie on the 18th hole (par 4).
Fleetwood played a dynamic match with 5 birdies, 4 bogies and 1 double bogie, while Siwoo Kim played solid with 2 birdies and 1 bogie.
Like match play, there were surprises one after another from the first day.
Justin Thomas (USA), second in the world rankings, was defeated by Matt Coocher (USA) by three holes.
Bryson DeChambo (USA) lost to Antoine Rosner (France), the 64th place in the world ranking, by two holes.
Rosner has never participated in the American Professional Golf (PGA) Tour.
“In match play, any player has the same starting point,” Rosner said. “It’s true that DeChambo hits a huge hit, but I didn’t care.
Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) lost to 66th in the world rankings Ian Poulter (England) by six holes.
Polter didn’t have the right to participate in the tournament at the beginning, but due to the absence of five players within the world’s 64th place, he played in the last train.
Tony Pinau (USA), 13th in the world rankings, also lost a six-hole car to Dylan Fritelli (South Africa), who received 64 seeds.
One of the surprises on the first day is that JT Foston, who played as a waiting player like Polter, drew with Colin Morikawa (above the United States), the fourth place in the world ranking.
Fourston is the 70th lowest ranked player in the world.
World No. 1 Dustin Johnson (USA) beat Adam Long (USA) by two holes, and 3rd place Jon Ram (Spain) beat Sebastian Munos (Colombia) by one hole.
Defending champion Kevin Keithner (USA) beat Louis Oosthizen (South Africa) by two holes.
/yunhap news