The top players on the Korean Men’s Professional Golf Tour (KPGA) are among the top players on the first day of the Macau Presented by Wynn (US$2 million), the second event of the Asian Tour International Series at Macau Golf & Country Club (Par 70, 6637 yards) in Macau, raising hopes of a Korean victory.
Cho Min-kyu (35-Woori Financial Group), the highest-ranked South Korean player with two professional victories, carded seven birdies and two bogeys in the first round to card a 5-under 65 and sit in a tie for fifth place, two strokes behind leader Li Haotong (China).
After starting in the morning group (10th hole), Cho missed the green on the 11th hole (par-3) with a poor tee shot, but rolled the ball low with his approach shot and drove it directly into the hole cup for birdie.
Two bogeys and two birdies later, he was just one shot off the pace at the halfway point, but a birdie on the first hole of the second round boosted his confidence. In the second round, he carded four birdies and no bogeys to continue his strong start to the tournament.
“I wasn’t happy with my shots,” Cho said in his post-match interview, “but I felt very good with my putts, and I think my mid- to long-range putts went in, which is why I played well today.”
Lee has yet to win a tournament since debuting on the Korean Tour in 2010, but he has won the Kansai Open in 2011 and the Fujisankei Classic in 2016, both in Japan.
The 2020 Korean Tour leader in greens in regulation, his driver distance was average on the tour last season, but his shot accuracy was high enough to rank in the top 10 on the tour in terms of greens in regulation and fairways in regulation.
Twenty-year professional veteran Park Sang-hyun (41-Dong-A Pharmaceuticals) is tied for 16th place with Song Young-han (33-Shinhan Financial Group), Kim Min-kyu (23-CJ) and 10 others at 4-under 66, followed by Ko Gun-taek (25-Daebo Construction), Chung Chan-min (25-CJ), Moon Moon-joon (42-NH Nonghyup Bank) and Ham Jung-woo (30-Hana Financial Group) at 3-under 67.
“It was very windy in the morning, so I didn’t make many strokes, but I putted very well and I think it will 사설토토 lead to good results in the second round,” said Ham Jeong-woo, who has been dominating on the Conferry Tour (PGA Tour’s secondary tour) and DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) this year.
“I want to finish the tournament with the best score among Korean players in this tournament,” he said.
Meanwhile, the tournament is expected to be a fierce competition for world ranking points as many LIV Golf players are participating in the tournament.
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