Jeong Jae-hun fired a blistering opening round to take the lead at the Dong-A Membership Group Open, the first regular-tour event of the second half of the KPGA season, which carries a purse of 700 million won ($499,000).
Playing the Sol Course at Sollago Country Club in Taean, South Chungcheong Province on Thursday, Jeong carded an eagle and eight birdies for a 10-under-par 62 on the par-72 layout.
Jeong has been in strong form on the David Golf Tour — the KPGA's second-tier circuit — this season, winning the 10th event among other solid results to top both the money list and the integrated points standings. Those performances earned him a spot in the Dong-A Membership Group Open field; his only other regular-tour start this season came at the KPGA Founders Cup in May, where he finished tied 37th.
In his second regular-tour start of the season, Jeong surged to the top of the leaderboard by making five birdies on the front nine alone. He added an eagle at the par-5 11th hole, draining a 19-meter putt after his second shot found the green.
Jeong said a wrist injury kept him off the course for about nine months before he returned last June, and his goal coming into the week had been simply to make the cut. "I came in aiming to make the cut, but my iron play was sharp and I got through the round without any major trouble," he said.
Park Jeong-hun, who made his KPGA Tour debut this year, posted a bogey-free 63 with nine birdies to sit tied second alongside Kim Seung-min and Choi Seung-bin, one stroke off the lead.
Jang Yu-bin, the only player to win twice on tour this season, carded a bogey-free 66 with six birdies to finish the day tied eighth.
yjc@heraldcorp.com
