The ‘Korean Young Gun Blast’ continues. Korean male players turned on the green light to enter the top 10 of four consecutive PGA Tour events. This time, ‘Rookie’ Kim Seong-hyeon (25, Shinhan Financial Group) joins the scene and draws attention.
Kim Seong-hyun received the rookie of the year last season on the second part of the tour, the Korn Ferry Tour. He is a tall man who vomited his spirit by breaking through the so-called’Monday qualifying round’ and winning the KPGA Championship (2020), the most prestigious tournament of the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour. In 2021, after winning a surprise victory at the JGTO Japan PGA Championship, a Japanese professional golf tour, he took on the US challenge, and last year won the Korn Ferry Tour Rookie of the Year, raising expectations for this season.
At the Shriner’s Children’s Open held in October last year, he tied for 4th place and showed off his extraordinary spirit, but this year, he has both possibilities and challenges with his jump performance.
On the 26th (Korean time), he reduced 5 strokes on the first day of the PGA Tour Farmers Insurance Open (total prize money of 8.7 million dollars) held at Torrey Pines Golf Club Book Course (par 72) in La Jolla, San Diego, California, USA, and tied for 12th place. 3 strokes from the lead. In terms of numbers alone, if you maintain consistency in the remaining three rounds, you can aim for a reverse electrode.
Kim Seong-hyun, who reduced 5 strokes by changing 7 birdies and 2 bogeys on the first day of the tournament, said, “The early start was not good, but I played with patience. I didn’t putt well, so I asked the caddy, ‘what’s the problem’, and he advised me to see a mistake in the setup. I supplemented this and putt became easier.” He said, “It is a windy course, so you have to be patient and digest the second round. [The PGA Tour] expects there to be more good opportunities because there are so many games. There are games with good results, so if you believe in yourself and play, there will be good results.” 온라인바카라
For Kim Seong-hyun, starting the tournament on a relatively easy book course seems to have helped to change the atmosphere. The Farmers Insurance Open alternates between the North and South courses of Torrey Pines Golf Club to play the first and second rounds, and from the third round onwards, only the South course is played. The North Course is 7258 yards in length, shorter than the South Course (7765 yards) and relatively easy. In fact, the South course has an average of 73.013 strokes and the North course has a deviation of 68.769 strokes. Aaron Lai (England), Brent Grant, and Sam Ryder (US), who formed the leading group by 3 strokes, also played the first round on the book course.
For Kim Seong-hyun, who received the report card for the wild jump, it would be advantageous to start in a good mood on the first day and challenge the difficult course based on confidence.
The Korean players who started from the South Course also started fresh with under par. Lim Seong-jae (25, CJ Logistics), who ranked 7th in the power rankings before the opening, changed 6 birdies and 2 bogeys to start with a 4 under par 68 strokes for 19th place. 4 strokes from the lead. Since the second round is played on the book course, it is expected that the reverse electrode will start. Kim Si-woo (28, CJ Logistics), who lifted the championship trophy from the beginning of the new year, was also selected with a 3-under-par 69 in the South Course.