Woods "2 Under Par with New Putter"... Koepka "3 Consecutive Wins in 83 Years GO~"

Starting 20th in the First Major of the Season PGA Championship, Day Leads at 5 Under Par, Korea's Kim Si-woo Performs Well at 1 Under Par, 33rd Place

Tiger Woods is putting on the 13th hole during the first day of this season's first major, the PGA Championship. San Francisco, California, USA = Getty Images / Multibits

[Asia Economy Golf Specialist Reporter Kim Hyun-jun] The 'returning golf emperor' Tiger Woods (USA) is off to a good start.

On the 7th (Korean time), at Harding Park TPC in San Francisco, California (Par 70, 7,234 yards), the opening day of the PGA Championship, a major on the PGA Tour with a total prize of $11 million, Woods shot 2-under par to tie for 20th place. Jason Day (Australia) and Brendon Todd (USA) lead the field at 5-under par, while defending champion Brooks Koepka (USA) is challenging a historic 'three-peat in 83 years' from a tie for 3rd place at 4-under par 66, just one stroke behind.

Woods won the Masters last April for his 15th major victory and reached Sam Snead's (USA) all-time PGA Tour record of 82 wins by winning the Zozo Championship in October, which counts toward the 2020 season. He is on the verge of setting the PGA Tour record for most wins (83) and closing the gap to the 'old golf emperor' Jack Nicklaus's (USA) record for most major wins (18) by just two. Known as his 'winning stronghold,' Woods has secured four wins including back-to-back titles in 1999-2000 and 2006-2007, which is encouraging.

On this day, he recorded five birdies and three bogeys. He made two birdies on the first hole he played, the 10th hole (par 5) and the 13th hole (par 4), and recovered from two bogeys on the 14th hole (par 4) and the 2nd hole on the back nine (par 4) with consecutive birdies on the 4th and 5th holes. He added another birdie on the 7th hole (par 4) late in the round but was disappointed with a bogey on the 8th hole (par 3) after his tee shot landed in a greenside bunker. Overall, he was satisfied with a score in the 60s for the first round of a major in six years since the 2014 Open Championship.

He unleashed drives up to 319 yards, dispelling recent concerns about his back pain, and his 'stingy putting' stood out with an average of 1.58 putts per hole. Woods attracted extra attention by using a new putter. He slightly lengthened the Titleist Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS model, which he had used for a long time, to reduce back pain during his putting stroke. He expressed confidence, saying, "Considering the course difficulty and weather, it will be hard to shoot better than 4-under par in a day."

Brooks Koepka (right) is looking at the course on the 3rd hole during the first day of this season's first major, the PGA Championship. San Francisco, California, USA = Getty Images / Multibits

Koepka, who last year successfully defended his title with a wire-to-wire victory starting from day one, is now aiming for a historic three-peat for the first time in 83 years, following Walter Hagen's four consecutive wins from 1924 to 1927. After a downhill period following knee surgery last year, Koepka fine-tuned his winning touch by finishing tied for 2nd at the FedEx St. Jude Invitational, which ended on the 3rd. Justin Rose (England) joined the tie for 3rd place.

World No. 1 Justin Thomas (USA), Jon Rahm (Spain), and Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), the 'top 3,' have yet to show their strength. Rahm and McIlroy are tied for 48th at even par, while Thomas is tied for 68th at 1-over par. From Korea, Kim Si-woo (25) is performing well, tied for 33rd at 1-under par; Kang Sung-hoon (33) and Kim Joo-hyung (18) are tied for 48th; Ahn Byung-hoon (29) is tied for 90th at 2-over par; and Im Sung-jae (22, all from CJ Logistics) is tied for 109th at 3-over par.

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