Siwoo Kim Ties for 13th... 203cm Tall Amateur Surprises as Leader

Siwoo Kim 2 Under Par in Round 1 of the 151st Open
Fleetwood and Grillo Share Lead, Harman 4th
Koepka and Seongjae Im Tied 19th, McIlroy 32nd

Kim Si-woo had a steady start.

On the 20th (local time), he recorded 4 birdies and 2 bogeys in the first round of the 151st Open Championship (total prize money $16.5 million), held at Royal Liverpool Golf Club (par 71, 7,383 yards) in Hoylake, Wirral, England. He is tied for 13th place (2-under 69) along with Jordan Spieth (USA) and others. Amateur Christo Lamprecht (South Africa), who stands 203 cm tall, Tommy Fleetwood (England), and Emiliano Grillo (Argentina) share the lead (5-under 66).

Siwoo Kim is teeing off at the 4th hole during the first round of the 151st Open Championship, the oldest major tournament. [Hoylake, England = AP·Yonhap News]

Kim Si-woo started off well with consecutive birdies on holes 4 and 5. He made up for a bogey on the 12th hole (par 4) with a birdie on the 15th hole (par 5), lost a stroke on the 17th hole (par 3), but secured a birdie on the final 18th hole (par 5) to look forward to the next round. Notably, he made birdies on all three par 5 holes. He is three strokes behind the co-leaders, laying the groundwork for his first major championship victory.

Lamprecht swept up 7 birdies (2 bogeys) to dominate the top of the leaderboard. He earned his spot in this tournament by winning last month’s British Amateur Championship. Leveraging his overwhelming physical attributes, he showcased long drives of up to 363 yards, averaging 325 yards. Lamprecht exclaimed, "I am proud of myself," and "I played well today." He is majoring in Business Administration at Georgia Tech.

Amateur Christo Lamprecht is teeing off at the 1st hole of the 1st round of the 151st Open. [Hoylake (England) = EPA·Yonhap News]

Fleetwood recorded 6 birdies (1 bogey) on his ‘home course.’ He is a strong player with 6 career wins on the European Tour. Brian Harman is tied for 4th place (4-under 67), and US Open champion Wyndham Clark (both USA) is tied for 7th place (3-under 68), performing well. ‘Major hunter’ Brooks Koepka, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay (all USA), and Im Sung-jae are tied for 19th place (1-under 70). Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), last week’s Genesis Scottish Open winner, is tied for 32nd place (even par 71). Defending champion Cameron Smith (Australia) is tied for 48th place (1-over 72).

From Korea, An Byeong-hun, who dramatically qualified for the Open by finishing tied for 3rd at the Genesis Scottish Open, is tied for 66th place (2-over 73). Kim Joo-hyung and Kim Bi-o are tied for 89th place (3-over 74), eyeing a climb up the leaderboard. Lee Kyoung-hoon is tied for 109th place (4-over 75), and Kang Kyung-nam is tied for 139th place (7-over 78), facing a tough path.

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