Lim Sung-jae, Hwang Jung-gon, and Heo In-hoe whistle ‘Zoolibuddy’ from day one
Members of the team that won the men’s golf team gold medal at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games are in contention to win the 2023 Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour Genesis Championship ($1.5 billion in prize money) after the first day.
Lim Sung-jae (left-CJ) carded seven birdies and one bogey to shoot a 6-under 66 in the first round of the tournament at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea (Par 72-7471) in Incheon, South Korea, on Wednesday to top the leaderboard. He is tied for first place with Hwang Jung-gon (center-Woori Financial Group), who had six birdies, and Heo In-ho (right-Keumgang Housing), who had seven birdies and one bogey.
Lim got off to a flying start, hitting his second and third shots to within a meter of the pin on the first, second (par-4) and third (par-5) holes for three straight birdies. With two more birdies to close out the first round, Lim showed off his unusual putting ability on the first hole of the second round, holing a 7-meter birdie putt on the 10th (par-4). He bogeyed the 17th (par-3), but finished on a high note with a birdie at the 18th (par-5), putting his third shot within 0.7 meters of the pin.먹튀검증
This is the third time Lim has competed in a domestic tournament since joining the PGA of America in the 2018-19 season, following the Genesis Championship in October 2019 and the Woori Financial Championship in May this year. After coming from behind on the final day to win both of those tournaments, Lim is looking to make it three wins in a row on the Korean Tour after taking the lead on the first day.
Cho Woo-young (Woori Financial Group), who turned pro shortly after winning a gold medal at the Asian Games, is tied for fourth after a 5-under 67 with seven birdies and two bogeys. Five other players were in a tie for fourth, including Ko Gun-taek (Daebo Construction), who is attempting to become the first Korean to win four titles in a season in the 31 years since Choi Sang-ho.
Jang Yubin (Korea Gymnastics), also returning from the Asian Games with a gold medal, carded a 3-under 69 with an eagle, three birdies and two bogeys. She is tied for 15th, three shots behind the leader.