'2 Consecutive Wins March' Kim Siwoo "Starts at 4 Under Par"... Leads at 8 Under Par

Farmers Insurance Open Day 1: K.J. Choi Tied 21st, Kyung-Ju Choi 6-Under Tied 4th 'Surprise', 'Number 2' Rahm Tied 32nd at 3-Under

Kim Si-woo is teeing off at the 11th hole on the first day of the Farmers Insurance Open. San Diego, California, USA = Getty Images / Multibits

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] ‘American Express Champ’ Kim Si-woo (26, CJ Logistics) is off to a good start.

On the 29th (Korean time), at the opening day of the PGA Tour Farmers Insurance Open (total prize money $7.5 million) held at Torrey Pines Golf Course North Course (par 72, 7,258 yards) in San Diego, California, USA, he posted a 4-under-par and stood tied for 21st place. The score on the second day, which continues on the relatively more difficult South Course (par 72, 7,765 yards), has become even more important. Patrick Reed (USA) and Alex Noren (Sweden) are tied for the lead at 8-under-par.

Kim Si-woo eagled the 5th hole (par 5) and added three birdies (one bogey). During the American Express tournament that ended on the 25th, he was in perfect comeback mode, competing for the win within the ‘top 3’ throughout all four rounds. Especially, his green hit rate of 81.94% with his ‘pinpoint iron shots’ showed great power. Today, his accuracy was also impressive at 77.78%. His average putts per hole were 1.79, showing a slight 2% shortfall in putting.

Torrey Pines holds special meaning for Kim Si-woo as it will host the second major US Open in June. While this tournament plays the 1st and 2nd rounds on the South and North Courses respectively, and the 3rd and 4th rounds on the South Course, the US Open is played entirely on the South Course for all four rounds. The South Course is longer, with firmer fairways and tougher rough, making it generally about three strokes more difficult. It is affectionately nicknamed ‘Torrey South’ as the face of Torrey Pines.

K.J. Choi caused a stir by shooting 6 under par on the first day of the Farmers Insurance Open, positioning himself in a tie for 4th place.

In fact, most of the top-ranked players posted good scores on the North Course that day. Reed made eight birdies, and Noren recorded one eagle, seven birdies, and one bogey. It is interesting that ‘Tank’ K.J. Choi (51, SK Telecom) stood tied for 4th at 6-under-par. Since last year, he has entered the Champions (Senior) Tour for players over 50, and in the 2021 PGA Tour season, he missed the cut four times in six events. However, today his ‘solid shots’ stood out.

World No. 2 Jon Rahm (Spain) scored 3-under-par tied for 32nd on the South Course and is still ‘testing new weapons.’ On the 10th, during the Sentry Tournament, he made headlines by switching clubs from TaylorMade, which he had used for five years, to Callaway. With a maximum driving distance of 333 yards, a fairway hit rate of 57.14%, and a green hit rate of 61.11%, he still needs more time. He has thrilling memories of his first PGA Tour win in 2017.

‘Number 7’ Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) is another contender. He scored 4-under-par on the South Course, but his short game faltered, causing some setbacks. The 14th hole (par 4) was a representative example. He chose a wedge for his second shot, but the spin was too much, and the ball moved away from the hole, resulting in a ‘3-putt’ bogey. For Korea, Noh Seung-yul (31) is tied for 21st, Im Sung-jae (23) tied for 32nd, An Byeong-hun (30) even par tied for 88th, and Lee Kyung-hoon (30, all CJ Logistics) tied for 119th at 2-over-par.

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