Juhyung Kim 14th... Hoblan, Morikawa, Bradley Tied for Lead

PO Final Tour Championship 1R 3-Under Par
Schauffele 4th, McIlroy and Rahm Tied 7th
Harman 10th, Kim Siwoo 22nd, Im Sungjae 26th

‘PGA star attraction’ Kim Joo-hyung has made a smooth start.

On the 24th (local time), at East Lake Golf Club (par 70, 7,346 yards) in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Kim shot a 3-under 67 in the first round of the final third FedEx Cup Playoffs (PO) event of the 2022/2023 PGA Tour season, the Tour Championship (total prize money $75 million), placing him tied for 14th (5-under). Collin Morikawa, Keegan Bradley (both USA), and Viktor Hovland (Norway) share the lead at 10-under.

The Tour Championship adjusts starting scores based on FedEx Cup rankings. The No. 1 FedEx Cup ranked player receives a 10-under stroke bonus. Players ranked 2nd to 5th start at 8 to 5 under, 6th to 10th at 4 under, 11th to 15th at 3 under, 16th to 20th at 2 under, 21st to 25th at 1 under, and 26th to 30th at even par.

Kim Joo-hyung is reading the green on the 1st hole of the 1st round at the Tour Championship, the final event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. [Atlanta, USA = AFP·Yonhap News]

Kim Joo-hyung, ranked 16th in the FedEx Cup and starting with a 2-under bonus, carded six birdies and three bogeys. Up to the 12th hole (par 4), he exchanged three birdies for three bogeys, struggling to lower his score. However, he gained momentum with ‘stepping stone birdies’ on holes 13 and 15, then secured a crucial birdie on the final 18th hole (par 5) to improve his standing. His long drives reached up to 357 yards, and his putting average per hole was an outstanding 1.46. He is five strokes behind the co-leaders, well within striking distance for a comeback.

FedEx Cup No. 24 Morikawa showcased flawless play with no bogeys, one eagle, and seven birdies. FedEx Cup No. 2 Hovland added 2-under to dominate the top of the leaderboard. Hovland won last week’s PO second event, the BMW Championship. FedEx Cup No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (USA) lost one stroke and sits fourth (9-under).

Defending champion and FedEx Cup No. 3 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) and FedEx Cup No. 4 Jon Rahm (Spain) are tied for seventh (7-under), three strokes behind, eyeing a comeback. Open Championship winner Brian Harman (USA) is tied for 10th (6-under). From Korea, FedEx Cup No. 20 Kim Si-woo finished the first round tied for 22nd (2-under) with an even-par score. FedEx Cup No. 17 Im Sung-jae is tied for 26th (1-under).

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