Kim Juhyung Leads the Pack... "Excited on the Paris Olympic Course"

DP World Tour Kazoo Open de France 1R 7 Under Par
Southgate Tied 2nd, Hoigoer Tied 6th
Lee Minwoo and Hoshel, Olesen Tied 36th Start

‘PGA star’ Kim Joo-hyung soared on the Paris Olympic course.

On the 21st (local time), he shot a 7-under-par 64 in the first round of the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) Kazu Open de France (total prize money $3.25 million) held at Le Golf National (par 71, 7,249 yards) near Paris, France, taking the lead. Matthew Southgate (England) and three others tied for second place at 6-under-par 65, Rasmus Højgaard (Denmark) tied for sixth at 5-under-par 66, and Minwoo Lee (Australia), Billy Horschel (USA), and Thorbjørn Olesen (Denmark) tied for 36th at 2-under-par 69.

Kim Juhyung took the lead on the leaderboard by shooting an impressive 7 under par in the first round of the Kazu Open de France.

Kim Joo-hyung collected seven birdies without a single bogey. He made only one birdie on the 14th hole (par 5) in the front nine, but dominated the leaderboard with four consecutive birdies from holes 1 to 4 and back-to-back birdies on holes 6 and 7 in the back nine. Leading by one stroke, he secured his first chance to win on the European stage. Kim Joo-hyung is a rising star ranked 18th in the world with two career wins on the PGA Tour. This year, he has entered the top 10 eight times, including one victory, ranking 23rd in earnings ($6,262,918). Notably, he finished as runner-up at the Open Championship major last July.

The fiercely competitive Le Golf National hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup and is the course for next year’s Paris Olympic golf competition. Kim Joo-hyung holds the highest world ranking among Korean players. If he maintains his current ranking, his participation in the Paris Olympics is highly likely. Kim said, “I really didn’t expect anything,” adding, “It was tough in the heavy rain. The rain and wind made it a challenging course to play.” He continued, “I was in the UK last week and then moved to France, so the travel was manageable,” and smiled, saying, “If I come to the Olympics next year, I think I have prepared well.”

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