‘Practice bug’ Park Eun-shin shot a 7-under-par 65 on the first day of the KPGA Korean Tour’s Bizplay E-Newspaper Open to share the lead.
Park Eun-shin carded an eagle and five birdies for a 7-under 65 to share the lead with Lee Seung-taek and Jung Yoon on Thursday at Cosmos Links (Par 72) in Yeongam, Jeollanam-do. Lee had seven birdies and no bogeys, while Korean-American Jung had one eagle and five birdies.
Park, known as the practice bug on the tour, has been battling a rare disease called rhabdomyolysis due to his intense training. The disease, which affects the kidneys, was diagnosed in March of last year when Park ruptured the rhabdomyolysis muscle, which attaches to the joints in her legs, and she faced the possibility of having to quit golf. After being told that overexertion was the cause of her illness, she cut back on her workouts, but still managed to win two tournaments, the Munsingwear Match Play and the Golf Zone Toray Open.
In the latter, Park tied for the lead after a precision play that saw her not drop a single ball in any of the course’s 365 bunkers. “There are a lot of bunkers on the course, so it’s quite tricky off the tee. However, as long as I keep my shots in the fairway, I feel like I can play without much trouble.” “I will play the rest of the round as calmly as I did today,” said Park.
Lee “Bulbear” Seung-taek, who returned from military service in June last year, is determined to get his first win on tour at this event. “There are some holes where you can avoid bunkers if you hit the tee shot far enough,” said Lee, who set the Korean Tour record for lowest 18-hole score with a 12-under-par 60 on the final day of the 2017 Tee-Up-Jis-Swing Mega Open. Being a long hitter, my second shot is relatively easy, so I think I scored well,” said Lee. “Overall, I attacked the bunkers by going over them. For example, on the 18th hole, there were a lot of bunkers on the tee shot landing area, so I played it through the next hole.”
Cosmos Rings, where the tournament is being held, was the center of attention even before the tournament began due to its unique course configuration. It is an 18-hole course with four holes in a giant rectangle shaped like a runway that is 1850 meters long and 100 meters wide. There are 365 bunkers scattered throughout the course, 20 per hole. The crater-shaped bunkers are cramped and difficult to get out of if you fall into one. However, if you avoid them, you can play the hole with relative ease.
Long-hitter Seo Yosub shot a 6-under-par 66 and is tied for fourth place. Starting on the 10th hole, Seo was focused as she birdied five consecutive holes on Nos. 1-5. Seo said, “I haven’t played well off the tee lately. I was struggling a lot, but this course doesn’t have many OB areas, so I was able to play with relative ease. As I made back-to-back birdies, my confidence grew and I think I played as well as I thought I would,” said Seo. “I hope this week will be a turning point for me.”스포츠토토
Kwon Oh-sang, the youngest player on the Korean Tour, carded a 5-under 67 with seven birdies and two bogeys to finish in a group of five alongside Jeon Garam, Lee Sung-ho, Kim Dong-min and Choi Min-chul. Developmentally disabled golfer Lee Seung-min, who competed in the tournament on his own after being re-ranked, shot a 4-under 68 with an eagle, three birdies and a bogey to start in a tie for 11th place alongside defending champion Choi Jin-ho, Lee Soo-min, Ok Tae-hoon, Lee Jung-hwan and Choi Seung-bin.
Meanwhile, Ko, who picked up his third win of the season at the Shinhan Donghae Open last week, could only manage an even-par score and finished tied for 81st. Ko, who is trying to become the first Korean to win four times in a season in 31 years since Choi Sang-ho in 1992, traded birdies for four bogeys.