In his seventh season on the Korea Professional Golf Association (KPGA) Korean Tour since making his debut in 2017, Jung has never won a tournament, but he’s no stranger to fans.
That’s because he’s often in contention for the title.
He has been in the lead in the first and second rounds more times than any other player.
However, he has often played well in the first and second rounds only to collapse in the third or fourth round.
A case in point is the 2018 Genesis Championship, a highly coveted tournament that comes with top prize money and a spot on the PGA Tour, where he led after the first and second rounds before shooting 8-over par in the third round.
In short, Jung was synonymous with ‘lack of backbone’ on the KPGA Korean Tour.
Jeong shot an 8-under 64 in the first round of the KPGA Korean Tour’s Golf Zone-Doray Open (total prize money of 700 million won) at Seonsan Country Club (Par 72) in Golf Zone County, Gumi-si, Gyeongbuk, on Feb. 2.
Chung, who shot his lowest round of the season, finished the first round in the lead among players who played in the morning.
Fog delayed the start of play by two hours and 10 minutes, making it difficult for those who started in the afternoon to complete their first rounds today.
Chung had eight birdies and two bogeys through the 17th hole to cut six strokes off his lead, but he holed out for eagle on the final 18th hole (par-5) after a 15-yard chip shot went into the hole.
He bogeyed the second (par-3) to match his partner Seung-Bo Jang’s hole-in-one, and then came from behind for a chip-in eagle on the 18th after Jang holed a chip-in eagle first.
Jung said, “My shot feeling wasn’t very good today. The course was short and wide, so I was able to hit the greens without too much trouble if they weren’t in the rough, and my caddie and I had a good understanding of the putt line.”
“It’s time to change that,” Jung said of his lack of hindsight.
“I used to get excited and have high expectations when I was in the lead,” he said, adding that his collapse in the third and fourth rounds was due to his mindset, not his technique. “Now, I don’t have much excitement. I’ve developed an immunity,” he smiled.
For the next three days, he was more cautious than excited.
“I don’t have a good shot touch right now,” Jung said, “and I think I need to work on my shots on the practice range today.”
Kim Dong-min, Jeon Garam, Lee Kyu-min, and “YouTuber golfer” Gong Tae-hyun, who played as a featured player, shot a 6-under 66 to finish two strokes behind Jung.
Jang Seung-bo, who was playing alongside Jung and enjoyed a hole-in-one on the second hole (par-3), Kim Hong-taek, and Lim Ye-taek followed at 5-under 67.
Park, whose second-place finish in the tournament would push his season earnings past 800 million won for the first time in KPGA Korean Tour history, had an uneventful first day with a 3-under 69. 토토사이트