Bae Sang-moon takes first step toward third Korean Open title with 4-under 67

South Korean golfer Bae Sang-moon took a strong step toward his third victory at the national title event, the Korea Open Golf Championships (KRW 1.4 billion in prize money).

The South Korean shot a 4-under 67 with six birdies and two bogeys in the first round of the 66th Korea Open at Woojung Hills Country Club (Par 71) in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, on Tuesday.

He finished the first day tied for the lead with Kwon Sung-yul and Kang Kyung-nam.

Bae won back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2009 and will be looking for his third win in six years in 2018.

Starting on the 10th hole, Bae carded four birdies with one bogey in the first half to trim three strokes off the lead before adding two more birdies and one bogey in the second half.

Bae struggled after her tee shot left the fairway, but she got out of trouble with accurate chip shots and putts.

“On this course, if your tee shot lands in the rough, you can’t get your iron shot to the green and it’s hard to make birdie,” said Bae. “I will try to stay in the fairway as much as possible and leave uphill putts for the rest of the round.”

Kwon Sung-yeol, who has one win on the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) Tour, and Kang Kyung-nam, who has 11 wins, are also well on their way to their first victories of the season.

Jang Yoo-bin Jang, who leads the Order of Merit, shot a 3-under 68 and is tied for fourth place.

Jang struggled in the first half of the tournament, but picked up steam in the second half with three straight birdies on the 10th through 12th holes.

She bogeyed the 15th and 17th holes, but eagled the 18th (par-5) to end the day on a high note.

He hit his second shot with a 6-iron with 190 meters to go, dropped it to 4 meters and finished with a putt.

“I made a lot of mistakes off the tee today, which was disappointing, but I’ll work on it and continue my good results tomorrow,” said Jang.

Steve Luton (England), Byun Jin-Jae, Hsin-Hsiang Chung (Chinese Taipei) and Tae-Hoon Ok (South Korea) also shot 3-under 68s to trail the leaders by one stroke.

Meanwhile, defending champion Han Seung-soo dropped a whopping 11 strokes and slipped to the bottom of the leaderboard, leaving him to worry about missing the cut. 안전놀이터