Kang outshines Woods, Mickelson
Source: Agencies |
January 29, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ROOKIE Kang Sung-hoon of South Korea took advantage of the par-five holes in near-perfect weather at Torrey Pines in San Diego to surge into a one-shot lead in the Farmers Insurance Open first round on Thursday.
With hardly a breath of wind on a glorious sun-kissed day, Kang fired a sizzling 8-under-par 64 on the North Course, one of two layouts hosting the fourth PGA Tour event of the year.
Kang, making only his second appearance on the US circuit, upstaged six-time winner Tiger Woods and three-time champion Phil Mickelson as he piled up six birdies, an eagle and a lone bogey.
Woods, playing his first event of the season, opened with a bogey-free 69 on the North while left-hander Mickelson matched the lowest score of the day on the more difficult South layout, shooting a 67.
Kang birdied his last two holes to end the round one ahead of Americans Rickie Fowler and Alex Prugh, who also started out on the firm, fast-running North Course.
"All the par-fives are reachable so I tried to keep to the fairways and it worked really well," Kang told reporters. "I made two birdies and one eagle on the par-fives. I played very well today."
The 24-year-old from Jeju booked his place on the 2011 PGA Tour via qualifying school and was delighted to be competing against Woods and Mickelson.
The biggest concern for former world No. 1 Woods, back at Torrey Pines for the first time since his stunning playoff victory at the 2008 US Open, was his failure to birdie any of the four par-fives.
"I'm happy with the way I played, absolutely," Woods said. "It could have been a lot better if I took care of the par-fives a little bit more, but obviously I didn't do that.
With hardly a breath of wind on a glorious sun-kissed day, Kang fired a sizzling 8-under-par 64 on the North Course, one of two layouts hosting the fourth PGA Tour event of the year.
Kang, making only his second appearance on the US circuit, upstaged six-time winner Tiger Woods and three-time champion Phil Mickelson as he piled up six birdies, an eagle and a lone bogey.
Woods, playing his first event of the season, opened with a bogey-free 69 on the North while left-hander Mickelson matched the lowest score of the day on the more difficult South layout, shooting a 67.
Kang birdied his last two holes to end the round one ahead of Americans Rickie Fowler and Alex Prugh, who also started out on the firm, fast-running North Course.
"All the par-fives are reachable so I tried to keep to the fairways and it worked really well," Kang told reporters. "I made two birdies and one eagle on the par-fives. I played very well today."
The 24-year-old from Jeju booked his place on the 2011 PGA Tour via qualifying school and was delighted to be competing against Woods and Mickelson.
The biggest concern for former world No. 1 Woods, back at Torrey Pines for the first time since his stunning playoff victory at the 2008 US Open, was his failure to birdie any of the four par-fives.
"I'm happy with the way I played, absolutely," Woods said. "It could have been a lot better if I took care of the par-fives a little bit more, but obviously I didn't do that.
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