'Tank' Choi Kyung-ju Shows "4-Under Par Tenacity"... 'Again 2008'

As of 8:30 AM, Sony Open 1R Tied 4th
Spieth and Kirk Tied for Lead, Kim Siwoo Tied 11th

Choi Kyung-ju is making a hybrid shot at the 11th hole on the first day of the Sony Open. Hawaii=AFP·Yonhap News

It is the strength of ‘Tank’ Choi Kyung-ju.

On the 12th (local time), Choi Kyung-ju scored 4 under par on the first day of the Sony Open (total prize money $7.9 million) of the 2022/2023 PGA Tour season held at Waialae Country Club (par 70, 7,044 yards) in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. As of 8:30 a.m., he is tied for 4th place. Jordan Spieth and Chris Kirk share the lead (6 under par 64), while Harris English (all from the U.S.) is in 3rd place (5 under par 65).

Choi Kyung-ju racked up 5 birdies (1 bogey). He cruised with birdies on the 5th hole (par 4) and the 9th hole (par 5), but made a bogey on the 10th hole (par 4) after his tee shot landed in the rough. However, he changed the momentum with a birdie on the 12th hole (par 4), then caught ‘stepping stone birdies’ on the 16th and 18th holes to finish the first round in good spirits. He relied on accurate shots with a fairway hit rate of 78.57% and a greens in regulation rate of 77.78%. He is only two strokes behind the joint leaders.

Choi Kyung-ju debuted on the PGA Tour in 2000 and is the ‘eldest brother’ with a total of 8 wins. He won this tournament in 2008 and has been playing on the Champions (Senior) Tour for the past two years. On the Champions Tour, he has appeared in 40 tournaments, entering the top 10 ten times including one win. Starting this year, he decided to increase the number of regular tour events he participates in and marked his first start in Hawaii.

Kim Si-woo started smoothly, tied for 11th place (3 under par 67). ‘PGA attraction cards’ Kim Joo-hyung and defending champion Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) made 2 birdies in 3 holes and are tied for 21st place.

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