‘Eldest brother’ Choi Kyung-joo (53) announced a fresh start with a 4 under par on the first day of the US Professional Golf (PGA) Tour Sony Open (total prize money: $7.9 million).
In the first round of the tournament held at the Waialei Country Club (par 70) in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA on the 13th (Korean time), Choi Kyung-ju picked out 5 birdies and blocked 1 bogey, hitting 4 under par 66. At 7:20 a.m., with the game in progress, Choi Kyung-ju tied for 3rd place and finished the game first.
Choi Kyung-ju, who has been active on the Champions Tour, decided to increase the number of PGA Tour events this year and started his first match of the new year at this tournament. Prior to the opening ceremony, Choi Kyung-ju, who was also the winner of the 2008 event, said, “We start 2023 with the Sony Open. I hope I can show a beautiful game in beautiful Hawaii.”
Choi Gyeong-ju, who started from the 1st hole, marched par to the 4th hole and caught the first birdie of the day on his 5th hole (par 4). A birdie putt rolled from a distance of about 9m fell into the hole.
Afterwards, Choi Gyeong-ju, who reduced one more stroke in the ninth hole (par 5) and finished the first half, showed a bogey in the 10th hole (par 4) and hesitated for a while. However, he changed the mood by putting a birdie putt about 11m away on the 12th hole (par 4). Afterwards, after a birdie on the 16th hole (par 4), a birdie was added again on the 18th hole (par 5), and the first round was finished happily.
53-year-old Choi Kyung-ju ranked 70th overall with an average drive shot distance of 287.7 yards. By the time Choi Kyung-ju finished the first round, there were 84 players in the game, so he was at the bottom. However, he succeeded in birdie hunting with a tee shot accuracy of 78.57% (6th place) and a high green hit rate of 77.78% (28th place). He also complied with an average number of putts per hole of 1.714 (21st).
Choi Kyung-ju, who has been on the Champions Tour since the 2020-2021 season, participated in 40 competitions in his career and entered the top 10 10 times, including one win.
Since joining the PGA Tour in 2000, he has competed in 492 events, winning 8 and finishing in the top 10 68 times. After his entry into the Champions Tour, his PGA Tour activity was infrequent, and he appeared in three tournaments in the 2021-2022 season, but all were eliminated from the cut. 토토사이트
In this competition, Choi Kyung-ju, who played the first game of the 2022-2023 season, raised expectations beyond passing the cut and reaching the top 10 by placing his name in the top ranks on his first day.
Kim Si-woo (28) also got off to a good start with a 3 under par 67 on the first day. He caught 5 birdies and blocked a bogey with 2.
Ahn Byeong-hun (32) started the first hole, and Kim Joo-hyung (21), Lim Seong-jae (25), Lee Gyeong-hoon (32), and Kim Seong-hyeon (25) will play the first round in the afternoon local time.