Kim Seonghyun's 'Autumn Series Excitement'... "7-under par with a shot eagle~"

Fortinet Championship Round 1: 1-Stroke Behind in 2nd Place Start
Herbert Leads, Kang Sung-hoon 3rd, Bae Sang-moon 9th
Lee Kyung-hoon and Homa Tied 35th, Noh Seung-yul 105th

Rookie Kim Seong-hyun is on a winning streak.

On the 14th (local time), he shot a 7-under-par 65 in the first round of the Fortinet Championship (total prize money $8.4 million), the first event of the PGA Tour Fall Series, held at Silverado Resort and Spa (par 72, 7,123 yards) in Napa, California, USA, placing him in second place. Lucas Herbert (Australia) leads with 9-under-par 63, while six players including Kang Sung-hoon and Jason Dufner (USA) are tied for third place at 6-under-par 66, engaging in a fierce chase.

Kim Seong-hyun is cheering after making a 'shot eagle' on the 14th hole of the first round of the Fortinet Championship.
[Napa (USA) = AP·Yonhap News]

Kim Seong-hyun boasted a perfect round with no bogeys, one eagle, and five birdies. His strong start with three consecutive birdies from holes 3 to 5 stood out. After reducing four strokes in the front nine with a birdie on the 9th hole, he holed his second shot from 106 yards on the 14th hole (both par 4). On the 17th hole (par 3), he made a long birdie putt of about 11 meters. His long drives averaged 319.20 yards, and his putting average when hitting the green was an outstanding 1.62 putts. Especially notable was his scrambling ability, achieving par or better 100% of the time when missing the green.

Kim Seong-hyun debuted on the PGA Tour this season, participating in 32 tournaments and making the cut 20 times. He entered the top 25 eight times, with his personal best being a tie for 4th place at the Shriners Children's Open last October. He is currently ranked 83rd in the FedEx Cup standings and 93rd in the money list ($1,531,178). By closing the gap to the leader by two strokes today, Kim has laid the foundation for his first career victory.

Herbert collected 10 birdies (with one bogey), including six consecutive birdies. He won once at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in October 2021. His current world ranking is 59th. Kang Sung-hoon played cleanly with six birdies. Bae Sang-moon is eyeing a rise in the rankings, tied for 9th place at 5-under-par 67. Lee Kyoung-hoon and defending champion Max Homa (USA) are tied for 35th at 2-under-par 70. No Seung-yeol is struggling, tied for 105th at 1-over-par 73.

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