In his seventh season on the Korea Professional Golf Association (KPGA) Korean Tour since making his debut in 2017, Jung has never won a title, but he’s no stranger to fans.
This is because he has been in contention for the title so often.
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 event 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 a nutshell, Jeong Jung-mil has been the epitome of ‘backing down’ on the KPGA Korean Tour.
Jung fired an 8-under 64 in the first round of the KPGA Korean Tour’s Golf Zone-Doray Open ($700 million in prize money) at Seonsan Country Club (Par 72) in Golf Zone County, Gumi-si, Gyeongbuk on Sunday.
Chung, who shot his lowest round of the season, finished the first round as the leader among players who played in the morning.
With eight birdies and two bogeys through the 17th hole, Chung was six strokes off the pace when he holed a 15-yard chip shot for eagle on the par-5 18th 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 enjoyed a hole-in-one on the second hole (par-3) while playing alongside Jung, Hong-taek Kim and Ye-taek Lim followed at 5-under 67.
Park Sang-hyun, whose second-place finish in this tournament would push his season earnings past $800 million for the first time in KPGA Korean Tour history, had an uneventful first day with a 3-under 69.
After a late afternoon start due to fog that delayed play by two hours and 10 minutes, the veteran Kang had one eagle and six birdies through the 16th hole before the sun set on the second round.
He had to play the challenging 17th (par-3) and the easy birdie-able 18th (par-5), leaving him with a chance to tie or take the lead.
Defending champion Eunshin Park was five strokes off the pace by the 16th hole to start her second straight tournament.
Park made six birdies in eight holes on the back nine, including four in a row on Nos. 9-12.
Fog delayed play on the day, and 33 of the 102 players in the field did not complete the first round. 먹튀검증
