Juhyung Kim's Quiet Start "Tied 29th, 6 Strokes Behind"... Steele Leads at 6 Under Par

Juhyung Kim Scores 4 Birdies and 4 Bogeys for Even Par on Day One of Zozo Championship
Steel Leads at 6 Under, Schauffele and Fowler Tied for 6th at 3 Under
Sungjae Im, Siwoo Kim, Kyunghoon Lee, and Matsuyama Tied for 41st at 1 Over

Kim Joo-hyung is teeing off at the 7th hole on the first day of the Zozo Championship. Chiba, Japan=Getty Images/Multibits

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] Kim Joo-hyung (20), the 'PGA star attraction,' has had a quiet start.

On the 13th, Kim Joo-hyung posted an even-par score on the first day of the Zozo Championship (total prize money $11 million) held at Narashino CC (par 70) in Chiba, Japan, placing him tied for 29th. Brandon Steel leads (6-under 64), Adam Schenk is second (5-under 65), and Keegan Bradley, Sam Ryder, and Matthew NeSmith (all from the USA) are tied for third (4-under 66).

Kim Joo-hyung exchanged 4 birdies for 4 bogeys. After struggling with 2 birdies and 3 bogeys over 12 holes for 1-over par, he energized himself with consecutive birdies on holes 13 and 14. However, a bogey on the 17th hole (par 5) prevented him from lowering his score, ending the first round. His fairway hit rate (61.54%) and greens in regulation (66.67%) remained in the 60% range, making it difficult to create birdie opportunities.

At 20 years and 3 months old, Kim Joo-hyung rose to stardom last week by securing his second PGA Tour win at the Shriners Children's Open. He attracted attention by reaching two wins at a younger age than 'Golf Emperor' Tiger Woods (USA, 20 years 9 months). He is 6 strokes behind the leader, and with three days remaining, a comeback is still possible.

Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele and Rickie Fowler (both USA) are tied for 6th (3-under 67), and Danny Lee (New Zealand) started comfortably in a tie for 11th (2-under 68). On the other hand, Korean players struggled. Im Sung-jae (24), Kim Si-woo (27), and Lee Kyoung-hoon (31) are tied for 41st (1-over 71). Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) is also in this group. This tournament features 78 players competing over four days with no cut, determining the winner at the end.

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