Byung-Hoon An Ties for 4th at 6 Under... Clark Leads at 10 Under

On the First Day of the Phoenix Open, K.J. Choi and Seongjae Im Tied for 8th, Matsuyama and Rahm 13th, Thomas 23rd in the 'Chase'

Ahn Byung-hoon (left) shakes hands with fellow player Taylor Gooch after completing the first day of the Phoenix Open. Scottsdale, Arizona, USA = Getty Images/Multibits Photo by Multibits

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] An Byeong-hun (29, CJ Logistics) is off to a good start.

On the 31st (Korean time), at the Scottsdale Golf Club (par 71, 7,261 yards) in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA, the first day of the PGA Tour Waste Management Phoenix Open (total prize money $7.3 million) opened, and An Byeong-hun shot 6 under par to share 4th place with Tom Hoge and Harris English (both from the USA). Wyndham Clark leads (10 under par, 61 strokes), Billy Horschel is 2nd (8 under par, 63 strokes), and J.B. Holmes (all from the USA) is 3rd (7 under par, 64 strokes).

An Byeong-hun played a flawless round with six birdies. Starting at the 10th hole (par 4), he showed his strength by scoring consecutive birdies on the 12th and 13th holes, another birdie on the 15th hole (par 5), and consecutive birdies again on the 17th and 18th holes, reducing five strokes in the front nine. It was somewhat disappointing that he added only one birdie on the 3rd hole (par 5) in the back nine. He unleashed powerful drives averaging 319 yards, recorded a green hit rate of 88.89%, and averaged 1.68 putts per hole. He is four strokes behind the leader, in a position to aim for his first PGA Tour victory.

An Byeong-hun is the son of An Jae-hyung and Zhao Zimin, the 'table tennis couple.' Turning professional in 2011, he made waves by winning the major BMW PGA Championship on the European Tour in 2015, and in 2016, as a top-ranked player in the world rankings, he participated in 14 PGA Tour events, securing a 'direct ticket' by finishing 111th in the money rankings. He has been frustrated by three runner-up finishes: the Zurich Classic in May 2016, the Memorial Tournament in June 2018, and the RBC Canadian Open in July 2018.

Last September, he was disappointed with a 3rd place finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship, which is included in the 2019/2020 season. This season, he has entered the 'top 10' three times in nine tournaments and is ranked 22nd in the money list ($1,248,348). An Byeong-hun, who said he "played overall well," added, "I finished without any bogeys. It would be meaningful if I win my first title." Clark swept up 10 birdies to take the top of the leaderboard. He is in his second year as a pro and has yet to win.

Choi Kyung-ju raises his hand to greet the gallery after making par on the 10th hole on the first day of the Phoenix Open. Scottsdale, Arizona, USA = Getty Images / Multibits Photo by Getty Images

'Tank' Choi Kyung-ju (50, SK Telecom) made five birdies to share 8th place. He relied on accuracy with a fairway hit rate of 92.86%. Rookie of the Year Im Sung-jae (22, CJ Logistics) also joined the tie for 8th with one eagle and four birdies (one bogey). Including 2016 and 2017 champion Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), Jon Rahm (Spain), Xander Schauffele (USA), and Brandon Grace (South Africa) are tied for 13th place (4 under par, 67 strokes), eyeing a move up the leaderboard.

FedEx Cup No. 1 and world No. 4 Justin Thomas (USA) started comfortably at tied 23rd (3 under par, 68 strokes). 2018 champion Gary Woodland and Bryson DeChambeau (both USA) are tied for 47th (1 under par, 70 strokes). On the other hand, defending champion Rickie Fowler (USA) struggled, tied for 110th (3 over par, 74 strokes). From Korea, Kang Sung-hoon (33) is tied for 13th, Lee Kyoung-hoon (29) is even par tied for 66th, Noh Seung-yul (29) is tied for 121st at 4 over par, and Kim Si-woo (25) is tied for 123rd at 5 over par.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.