Siwoo Kim's First Win in Qualifiers "Defeats No. 2 Favorite Burger"... What About Seongjae Im?

Dell Technologies Match Play Group Stage Day 1: Ram, Morikawa, Hoblyn Secure 1st Wins with 2-Hole Leads; Thomas Suffers 1st Loss Upset

Kim Si-woo is watching the ball right after an iron shot on the 14th hole on the first day of the Dell Technologies Match Play. Austin, USA = Getty Images / MultiBits Photo by MultiBits

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] "Defeated the second favorite for the championship."

This is the early sprint of Kim Si-woo (27). On the 24th (Korean time), at the Austin Golf Club in Texas, USA (par 71, 7,108 yards), the opening day of the World Golf Championships (WGC) Series Dell Technologies Match Play (total prize money $12 million), he defeated Daniel Berger (USA) by 2 holes to secure his first win in the preliminary round. The format divides 64 players into 16 groups, playing three rounds of group matches like the World Cup soccer, and then the top player from each group advances to the round of 16 for a ‘survival game’ knockout stage.

‘48th seed’ Kim Si-woo had a strong start against ‘17th seed’ Berger in Group 13, leading by as many as 4 holes after the 1st-2nd and 5th-6th holes. Berger won the 8th-10th holes to quickly close the gap to 1 hole, but at the 11th hole (par 3), his tee shot landed in the water, resulting in a double bogey and stalling his momentum. Kim Si-woo then took a 1-hole lead with a birdie on the 14th hole (par 4), and impressively sealed the match with a birdie on the final 18th hole (par 4).

For Kim Si-woo, the second match against ‘13th seed’ Tyrrell Hatton (England) became even more important. Hatton also secured a 3-hole victory over ‘52nd seed’ Christiaan Bezuidenhout (South Africa), effectively deciding the ‘round of 16 ticket.’ ‘21st seed’ Im Sung-jae (24) suffered a heavy 5-hole defeat to ‘42nd seed’ Seamus Power (Ireland) in Group 4. He now faces a critical situation where he must defeat his second opponent, ‘62nd seed’ Keith Mitchell (USA).

The world’s top three players?Jon Rahm (Spain, world No. 1), Collin Morikawa (USA, No. 2), and Viktor Hovland (Norway, No. 3)?are progressing smoothly, and past champions such as Dustin Johnson (2017), Kevin Kisner (2019), and defending champion Billy Horschel (all USA) have also started their championship runs with a win. Kisner notably displayed his strong match play skills by easily defeating ‘37th seed’ Marc Leishman (Australia) by 4 holes.

Justin Thomas is disappointed immediately after his shot on the 2nd hole on the first day of the Dell Technologies Match Play. Austin, USA - Photo by Getty Images/Multivitz

Locally, the defeat of ‘6th seed’ Justin Thomas (USA) emerged as big news. Although considered the ‘top favorite’ to win, he was upset by ‘53rd seed’ Luke List (USA) by 3 holes in Group 6, becoming a ‘victim of the upset.’ This group, which included Kisner and Leishman, was dubbed the ‘group of death.’ Despite being the lowest seed, List has been on the rise after securing his first PGA Tour win in 203 starts over 10 years at the Farmers Insurance Open this past January.

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