Sung Kang opened with a 61, one stroke shy of his career-low round on PGA Tour (60, R2/2016 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am), at the Shriners Children’s Open.
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Kang tied Matt Jones (2021 The Honda Classic) for the lowest first-round score on Tour since the start of the 2020-21 season.
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After a 7-under 64, 2020 runner-up Matthew Wolff (T5) has now carded a score in the 60s in all nine rounds he has played at the Shriners Children’s Open.
Kang holds the third 18-hole lead/co-lead of his Tour career and first since his rookie season of 2011 (T51/2011 Farmers Insurance Open, T7/2011 Sanderson Farms Championship).
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This is Kang’s sixth start at the Shriners Children’s Open, he missed cut in his first three appearances (2012, 2016, 2018) before recording a T29 in 2019 and T43 in 2020.
He is in his third start of the 2021-22 season (T47/Fortinet Championship, T65/Sanderson Farms Championship).
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Finished the 2020-21 season No. 178 in the FedExCup standings but retained Tour membership via his win at the 2019 AT&T Byron Nelson (two-year exemption was extended an additional season due to COVID-19).
Matthew Wolff (T5/-7) lost in a playoff at the 2020 Shriners Children’s Open.
This is his fifth consecutive under-par score on Tour, his longest streak since the start of the 2020-21 season. The last streak of five or more: R1/2020 PGA Championship through R2/2020 THE NORTHERN TRUST (6 rounds).
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He has now carded a score in the 60s in all nine rounds he has played at the Shriners Children’s Open (scoring average: 66.00).
Sungjae Im (T2/-8) recorded five consecutive birdies (Nos. 12-16), one shy of his career-long streak on Tour (6, R2/2021 THE PLAYERS Championship).
Making his 16th start at the Shriners Children’s Open, Charley Hoffman (T2/-8) opened with a 63, his lowest score in 46 rounds at the event.
Tour rookie Chad Ramey (T2/-8) carded a 29 on the back nine, the first sub-30 nine-hole score on Tour this season.
Reigning Masters Tournament champion Hideki Matsuyama is T10 after a 65, his lowest first-round score on Tour since the 2019 ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP (65).
Louis Oosthuizen (-6), the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 8 in the Official World Golf Ranking, is making his second start at the event (T19/2020).
Rookie Hayden Buckley (T17/-5) made a hole-in-one at the par-3 17th (176 yards, 8-iron); the ace marks the first of Buckley’s career on Tour (17th round).
Defending champion and two-time Shriners Children’s Open winner Martin Laird carded a 67 (T31); he opened with 63 (2009) and 65 (2020) in his two victories.
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