Ahn Byung-hoon "Fresh Start with 4 Under Par"... Blickst Leads with 9 Under Par

John Deere Classic 1R Tied 14th Start
Leader 2nd, Poston and McCarthy Tied 23rd
Kang Sung-hoon 41st, Lee Kyung-hoon and Noh Seung-yeol Tied 89th

Byeong-Hun An got off to a fresh start.

On the 6th (local time), Byeong-Hun An shot 4-under par in the first round of the PGA Tour John Deere Classic (total prize money $7.4 million) held at TPC Deere Run (par 71, 7,289 yards) in Silvis, Illinois, USA, placing him tied for 14th. Starting next week, the Genesis Scottish Open in Scotland and the final major of the season, The Open Championship in England, will be held consecutively, causing many top-ranked players to skip this tournament.

Ahn Byung-hoon is walking on the 6th hole during the first round of the John Deere Classic.
[Silvis (USA) = AFP·Yonhap News]

An recorded eight birdies and four bogeys. His strong start included three consecutive birdies from holes 2 to 4. Over the next 12 holes, he made three birdies and four bogeys, losing one stroke, but showed resilience with back-to-back birdies on holes 17 and 18. His long drives reached up to 372 yards, and he had a perfect 100% bunker save rate. It is welcome news that he has broken free from the recent slump of missing the cut in the last two major tournaments. This season, An has played in 25 events and made two top-10 finishes. His personal best is a tie for 4th place at the Fortinet Championship last September, and he currently ranks 74th on the money list with $1,771,330.

Jonas Blixt (Sweden) dominated the leaderboard with two eagles and six birdies (one bogey), posting 9-under par 62. He is a player with three PGA Tour wins in total. His last victory was six years ago at the Zurich Classic, a team event, in 2017. His world ranking has dropped to 842nd. Grayson Murray is in second place (7-under par 64), while world No. 19 Cameron Young and Adam Schenk (both USA) are tied for third (6-under par 65), engaged in a chase. Last year’s champion J.T. Poston and Denny McCarthy (both USA) are tied for 23rd (3-under par 68).

From Korea, Sung-Hoon Kang made five birdies and three bogeys, finishing the first round tied for 41st (2-under par 69). Kang has played in 12 events this season but has yet to record a top-10 finish. His best result was a tie for 14th at the AT&T Byron Nelson in May. Kyung-Hoon Lee and Seung-Yeul Noh are tied for 89th (even par 71), and Sung-Hyun Kim is tied for 115th (1-over par 72).

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