Men's Golf Kim Joo-hyung, Tied 3rd in 1R... 'Strong Start' [Paris Olympics]

5 Under Par in First Olympic Round
3 Shots Behind Leader Matsuyama, Tied for 3rd Place

Kim Joo-hyung, the leading figure in Korean men's golf, ranked among the top in his first-ever Olympic round.

On the morning of the 1st (local time), at Le Golf National in Paris, France, during the first round, first hole of the men's golf event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Korea's Kim Juhyung is making the tournament's first tee shot. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 2nd (Korean time), Kim Joo-hyung shot a 5-under-par 66 with five birdies and no bogeys in the first round of the men's golf event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, held at Le Golf National (par 71) in Guyancourt near Paris.

He is three strokes behind Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), who took the solo lead on the first day with an 8-under-par 63. Kim Joo-hyung tied for 3rd place with Emiliano Grillo (Argentina) and Joaquin Niemann (Chile).

Kim Joo-hyung emerged as the next-generation star of Korean men's golf by recording three PGA Tour wins in 2022.

During the round, Kim made his first birdie on the 3rd hole (par 5). On the 5th and 6th holes (both par 4), he converted sharp second shots into birdie opportunities and capitalized on them.

On the 8th hole (par 3), Kim created a birdie chance with an almost perfect tee shot, adding another stroke to maintain his momentum.

Although his pace slowed somewhat in the latter part of the round, Kim did not lose any strokes. He added another birdie on the 14th hole (par 5), improving his position.

Kim finished the round by saving par on the last four holes.

Another Korean player, An Byeong-hun (33, CJ), had a disappointing start. He recorded three birdies and four bogeys for a 1-over-par 72, placing him 48th out of 60 competitors.

An started strong by making birdies on the first three holes but struggled to reduce his score afterward, resulting in four bogeys and an over-par round.

Japan’s Matsuyama finished the first round as the sole leader with eight birdies and no bogeys.

Matsuyama, a Japanese representative golfer with nine PGA Tour wins and the 2021 Masters champion, is currently ranked 12th in the world, the highest among Asian players.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (USA), who dominated men's golf in 2024 with six wins, started the tournament with a 4-under-par round, tied for 6th place alongside Jon Rahm (Spain) and others.

Rory McIlroy, ranked 3rd in the world and competing under the Irish flag again after the Tokyo Olympics, stood at 3-under-par tied for 14th place.

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