'Chip Shot Eagle' Matsuyama 5 Under Par... 'Momentum for 2nd Victory'

Arnold Palmer Invitational 1R 1-Stroke Behind 2nd Place
Schauffele 20th, An Byeong-hun and Im Sung-jae Tied 25th
Kim Joo-hyung and McIlroy Tied 49th, Kim Si-woo 62nd

Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) laid the foundation for his second win of the season.

Hideki Matsuyama is teeing off at the 1st hole of the 1st round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. [Orlando, USA=Photo by Reuters and Yonhap News]

On the 7th (local time), at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge (par 72, 7,466 yards) in Orlando, Florida, USA, during the first round of the PGA Tour's "premier event" Arnold Palmer Invitational (total prize money $20 million), Matsuyama shot a 5-under-par 67 to tie for 2nd place. Shane Lowry (Ireland) leads with 6-under-par 66, Justin Lower is tied for 2nd, and Sam Burns and Russell Henley (both USA) are among four players tied for 4th place at 4-under-par 68.

Matsuyama recorded one eagle, five birdies, and two bogeys. He showed great focus by making four birdies in the first 10 holes. A bogey on the 11th hole (par 4) was offset by a birdie on the 12th hole (par 5), and a 'double-hit' bogey on the 15th hole (par 4) was recovered with a 'chip-shot eagle' on the 16th hole (par 5). His putting average per hole was an outstanding 1.50. He is just one stroke behind the leader, seizing the opportunity for his second win of the season and 10th career victory since winning the Genesis Invitational last month.

Matsuyama became the first Asian player to win the Masters in 2021. Currently, with nine career wins, he holds the record for the most wins by an Asian player. In an interview with the PGA Tour website, he smiled and said, "It wasn't a difficult lie, but I made a double-hit mistake. I didn't even know if I had to take a penalty, but my caddie said no, so I was able to continue playing."

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (USA) finished the first round tied for 20th place at 2-under-par 70. Byeong Hun An and Sungjae Im are tied for 25th place at 1-under-par 71, looking to move up the leaderboard. Juhyung Kim is tied for 49th place at 1-over-par 73. World No. 2 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) and Adam Scott (Australia) are tied for 49th, and Siwoo Kim is tied for 62nd at 3-over-par 75.

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