TOKYO– South Korean Kim Si-woo found himself five shots back of the lead after the opening round of the Tokyo Olympic men’s golf tournament on Thursday.
Kim had four birdies and a bogey for a three-under 68 at the par-71 at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama, north of Tokyo.
Kim, a three-time PGA Tour winner, is tied for 12th place with seven others. Sepp Straka of Austria shot a bogey-free round of 63 to take the lead. He sits one ahead of Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand.
The other South Korean in the field, Im Sung-jae, shot a 70 with four birdies and three bogeys.
Kim opened his round with a bogey and then strung together eight pars.
After the turn, Kim had back-to-back birdies at the 10th and 11th, and had two more birdies coming home.
The round was delayed for more than two hours because of lightning.
“I battled some nerves on the front nine, and struggled just to make pars,” Kim said. “I need to work on my game more and I’ll try to play better tomorrow.”
Im was paired with a couple of multiple major champions, Rory McIlory and Collin Morikawa. His iron shots were off target all day. On the last hole, Im made a lengthy putt to save par.
“I pushed a lot of shots, and I didn’t play the way I wanted to,” Im said. “I’ll try to get my game back over the next three days.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency