Rookie Kim Seonghyeon "Ah, 'Yangpa'~"... Gordon Leads with 9-Under Par

Kim Seonghyun Even Par Tied 90th on First Day of WWT Championship
Defending Champion Hoblan and 'Number 2' Scheffler Tied 7th at 6 Under Par
Lee Kyunghun and An Byunghun Tied 64th at 2 Under Par, Morikawa Tied 90th

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] Rookie Kim Seong-hyun (24·photo) was caught off guard by the ‘yangpa’ (score double the standard strokes).

On the 3rd (local time), Kim Seong-hyun scored an even par on the first day of the PGA Tour World Wide Technology (WWT) Championship at Mayakoba (total prize money $8.2 million) held at El Camaleon Golf Course at Riviera Maya, Mexico (par 71, 7017 yards), finishing tied for 90th place in a disappointing performance. Will Gordon leads (9-under 62), Russell Henley is second (8-under 63), and Scott Piercy (both USA) and Francesco Molinari (Italy) are tied for third (7-under 64).

Kim Seong-hyun recorded 6 birdies, 3 bogeys, and 1 triple bogey. He made steady progress by reducing 4 strokes over 13 holes, including consecutive birdies on holes 3-4 and 6-7. However, he faltered with a bogey on the 14th hole (par 4) and collapsed with a triple bogey on the 15th hole (par 3) due to a mistake on his second shot. His fairway hit rate (57.14%) and greens in regulation (50%) were disappointing at around 50%. At this point, he needs to make a strong push in the second round to advance to the final stage.

Kim Seong-hyun won two career titles in Korea and Japan, including the 2020 Korean Tour KPGA Championship and last year’s Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO) PGA Championship, both majors. On the final day of the JGTO Golf Partner Pro-Am Tournament, he recorded a ‘dream 58’. After playing on the Korn Ferry (second-tier) Tour last season, he joined the PGA Tour this year. Kim has participated in six tournaments and is ranked 24th in the FedEx Cup standings, making a smooth landing. His personal best was a tie for 4th place at last month’s Shriners Children’s Open.

Defending champion Viktor Hovland (Norway) collected 1 eagle and 6 birdies (2 bogeys) to place tied for 7th (6-under 65). He is aiming for a three-peat at the tournament following wins in 2020 and last year. Also in this group is Scotty Scheffler (USA), who recently lost the world No. 1 ranking to Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) and is currently world No. 2. Meanwhile, Collin Morikawa (USA) struggled, tied for 90th. South Korea’s Lee Kyung-hoon and An Byeong-hun (both 31) are tied for 64th (2-under 69).

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