‘PGA’ Ram and ‘LIV’ Kepka "7-Under Par Showdown" (Summary)

Hovland and Leaderboard Top on Masters First Day
Young and Day 5 Under, Defending Champ Scheffler 4 Under
Kim Juhyung 2 Under, McIlroy Even, Woods 2 Over

The first-day showdown between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf at the Masters ended in a tie.

Brooks Koepka is watching the shot of his playing partner Danny Willett at the 3rd hole of the first round of the Masters. [Augusta (USA) = AP·Yonhap News]

‘PGA Tour loyalist’ Jon Rahm (Spain) and ‘LIV member’ Brooks Koepka (USA) dominated the top of the leaderboard. Both players shot 7-under-par 65 in the first round of the tournament held on the 6th (local time) at Augusta National Golf Club (par 72, 7,545 yards) in Augusta, Georgia, USA. The ‘young gun’ Viktor Hovland (Norway) joined the co-leader group.

World No. 3 Rahm recorded one eagle, seven birdies, and one double bogey. He is a strong player with 10 PGA Tour wins in total, including three this season. He won a major trophy at the 2021 US Open. Koepka made eight birdies (one bogey). After accumulating eight PGA Tour wins including four majors, he moved last year to LIV Golf, sponsored by Saudi Arabian capital. On the 3rd, he achieved his second win in the LIV Golf League’s third event.

Hovland, active on the PGA Tour, is ranked No. 9 in the world. He is Norway’s first PGA Tour champion with three wins in total. He is widely known among domestic fans as a Taekwondo black belt. In November last year, he achieved back-to-back victories at the ‘special event’ Hero World Challenge hosted by the Tiger Woods Foundation. Hovland’s best major finish was a tie for 4th at last year’s The Open. At the Masters, he finished tied 21st in 2021 and tied 27th last year.

Rory McIlroy is reading the putting line on the 10th hole of the first round at the Masters. [Augusta, USA=AP·Yonhap News]

Cameron Young (USA) and Jason Day (Australia) are tied for 4th place (5-under-par 67), while seven players including world No. 1 and defending champion Scottie Scheffler (USA) and amateur Sam Bennett (both USA) are tied for 6th place (4-under-par 68). The Open champion Cameron Smith (Australia) is tied for 17th (2-under-par 70), Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson (both USA) are tied for 26th (1-under-par 71), and world No. 2 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), who is challenging for the career Grand Slam, is tied for 37th (even par 72). The ‘Golf Emperor’ Tiger Woods (USA) finished tied for 54th (2-over-par 74). He is recalling the memory of winning the tournament after finishing the first day at 2-over-par in 2005.

From Korea, Kim Joo-hyung recorded one eagle, two birdies, and one double bogey, tying for 17th place. He was cruising at 4-under-par through 14 holes but on the 15th hole (par 5), his third shot from the bunker fell off the green and rolled down a slope into the water. Im Sung-jae is tied for 26th with three birdies and two bogeys. Im has a good record at the Masters, finishing tied 2nd in 2020 and tied 8th last year. Sony Open winner Kim Si-woo is tied for 45th (1-over-par 73), and Lee Kyoung-hoon is tied for 54th. Korean-American players Kevin Na and Will Zalatoris (both USA) withdrew due to injury.

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