Choi Kyung-joo started the first round with a pleasant birdie on the first hole of the KLPGA Korean Tour, where she participated for the first time this year.
On the 18th, KPGA Korean Tour SK Telecom Open (total prize money of 1.3 billion won) held at Pinx Golf Club (par 71) in Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do, Choi Kyung-joo hit his tee shot into the bunker on the 1st hole (par 4) of the 1st round, but hit the second shot with 110 yards left. 2m away from the hole to catch a birdie.
Choi Kyung-ju, who is the symbol of the SK Telecom Open with the record for the most SK Telecom Open appearances (21), the most wins (3), and passing the cut for 12 consecutive years, changed his putter and putter grip ahead of this tournament.
This is because he decided that to compete with younger juniors on the field, he had to be ahead of others on the green.
On the practice green before the start of the match, Choi Kyung-joo, who came out with the Odyssey two-ball putter, laughed, saying, “Maybe because of presbyopia, if the putter head is small, I wondered if the putter head was properly aligned when addressing.”
Not only the putter, but also the way he grips it.
His right hand does not hold the grip, but spreads his fingers and strokes like a brush.
He explained that the reason for changing the grip is that the stroke becomes stronger when under pressure, so it is perfect for preventing the ball from going left than it was aimed at.
Choi Kyung-joo, who believes that “to survive, you must not be afraid of change,” changes his putter quite often, but rarely changes his putter grip.
However, Choi Kyung-ju shook his head, saying, “I can’t use the broomstick putter that Kim Si-woo recently used and drew attention.”
After trying it on the practice green once, he confessed that he couldn’t get used to it at all.
Choi Gyeong-ju, who caught a 1m birdie with an exquisite wedge shot in the 4th hole (par 5), missed the green in the 8th hole (par 4) and lost 1 stroke because he could not put a 6m par putt, but made a three-stroke in the 9th hole (par 5). With the second shot, he made up for it by creating a birdie opportunity a span of distance.
Choi Kyung-ju, who is recording 2 under par, passed the remaining 7 holes to the 19th after finishing the 11th hole.
The first round is not over yet, but the ranking is tied for 10th.
On this day, Choi Gyeong-ju played a game with superpowered long hitter Chan-Min Jeong and defending champion Bio Kim to show off his unrivaled performance. The rest of the game was left with a loss of one stroke.
The match started four hours later than scheduled, and many players did not finish the first round until the sun went down.안전놀이터
They are scheduled to play the second round after playing the remainder of the first round on the morning of the 19th.
Kim Woo-hyun recorded the best score among players who completed all 18 holes by hitting 4-under-par 67.
Kim Woo-hyun fell into sluggishness after winning the Kaido Dream Open in 2017 and reached a career high of 3 wins, and is aiming for a comeback after attending qualifying school last year.
In 2019, Lee Jae-kyung, the rookie of the year, hit 6 under par to the 10th hole to occupy the top row of the leaderboard, followed by Ham Ham-woo Ham, who cut 5 strokes to the 12th hole.