Lim Seong-jae·Kim Joo-hyung·Kim Si-woo, side by side victory… “Winning the first match is important”
Lim Seong-jae (25th, 16th seeds) won the World Golf Championship (WGC) Dell Technology Match Play (total prize money of 20 million dollars) on the first day of the group stage, which will be held last this year, and won by 8 holes. Joo-hyung Kim (No. 21, 17) and Si-woo Kim (No. 28, 34) also sounded the victory high.
On the 23rd (Korean time), on the first day of the tournament held at Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas, USA, Im Seong-jae won by 8 holes (8&6) with 6 holes left to Maverick McNealy (USA, No. 58).
The Dell Technologies Match Play was the only match play event held on the PGA Tour, but it will no longer be held at the end of this year. It is a tournament where only 64 top players can participate, and the group league is divided into 16 groups of 4 players each for 3 days, and the first place in each group advances to the round of 16. From the round of 16, it will be a ‘death match’ in which losers are eliminated.
Lim Seong-jae participated in match play for two years, 2021 and 2022, but has not yet passed the group stage. However, this time, he caught the first round and turned on the green light to advance to the round of 16. McNealy committed three bogeys in a row from the beginning, and Seong-jae Lim took the momentum, and Seong-jae Lim caught birdies in a row on holes 5 (par 4) and 6 (par 5). As McNealy made a bogey on the 7th hole (par 3), Lim Seong-jae took a big lead with a 6-up up to the 7th hole.
In hole 8 (par 4), Im Seong-jae made a mistake around the green and wrote down a double bogey, but McNealy made consecutive bogeys again in holes 10 (par 4) and 13 (par 3), so Seong-jae Lim changed the flow again. got it back Lim Seong-jae caught a 2m birdie on the 12th hole (par 5) and beat McNealy, who stopped par, by an 8-hole car and finished the game.
Im Seong-jae said in an interview with the PGA Tour after the game, “The game was a little unresolved as the Maverick player missed a shot. I think that’s why (I) was able to win,” he said humbly. At the same time, he self-reported, “I recorded two birdies in the first half, and it is regrettable that I made a mistake around the green in the 8th hole, but I think I played well.”
Im Seong-jae, who won the victory by the largest hole margin among 32 matches on the day, was also satisfied, saying, “It is fortunate that I can save a lot of stamina because there are many matches left.”
Im Seong-jae said, “It is important to win the first match in the group stage. Nothing can be predicted in the group stage. He sometimes fails to advance to the round of 16 even after winning two games in the group stage. I will always do my best until the last match and concentrate until the end.”
Im Seong-jae will play the second group match against JT Poston (USA, No. 43) the next day. Im Seong-jae analyzed Poston, saying, “I don’t think he will make a big mistake because he is a player who hits very straight,” and then said, “It is good to put putt well in match play, so tomorrow I will focus more on putting and try to do well.” compacted
Kim Joo-hyung (21, No. 17), who participated in the match play for the first time, won by two holes leaving one hole behind Alex Noren (Sweden, No. 38). Kim Joo-hyung took the lead from the beginning, catching three consecutive birdies in holes 5 to 7 in the first half. He caught up with the tide match in the 12th hole, but in the 13th hole (par 4), he put the second shot to the pin 1m away, recorded a birdie and took away this hole. Joo-hyung Kim overcame Noren by catching birdies in a row with sharp wedge shots in the 15th hole (par 4) and 16th hole (par 5).
Kim Joo-hyung said, “I played a game with ups and downs.안전놀이터 It was not easy for him,” he said, “but he is playing well this week because of his experience at the Presidents Cup.”
Kim Si-woo (28, 34) gave Chris Kirk (USA, No. 28) a green light to advance to the round of 16 by winning by 4 holes leaving 3 holes. Kim Si-woo, who had the experience of advancing to the round of 16 in 2018, said, “I played well overall. He tried to focus on my play rather than worrying about the opponent, and the play flowed well accordingly, so I was able to play a good game.”
The next day, he meets top seed Viktor Hovlan (Norway, No. 8). This is an important watershed moment that will determine our advance to the round of 16. Kim Si-woo said, “I will focus on my play without worrying about the opponent like today.”
Meanwhile, Lee Gyeong-hoon (32, 35) lost to Brian Harman (USA, 25) by 3 holes leaving one hole behind.
Defending champion and world No. 1 Scotty Scheffler (USA) won a sweaty victory over lower seed Davis Riley (USA, No. 54) by one hole, and world No. 3 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland, No. 3) defeated Scott Stallings (No. 3, Northern Ireland). USA, No. 52) recorded a victory by 3 holes with 1 hole left.
World No. 2 John Rahm (Spain, No. 2) was defeated by Rickie Fowler (USA, No. 49) by a two-hole lead, leaving a dark cloud over advancing to the round of 16.