Ten things to know after the first round of the 2018 CJ Cup at Nine Bridges Golf Club in Jeju Island, South Korea, where Chez Reavie leads.
- Day-One Leader: With a 4-under 68, Chez Reavie grabbed sole possession of the first-round lead by one shot after hitting 14/14 fairways and 15/18 greens.
- High-Score Lead: Reavie’s first-round 4-under 68 is the highest first-round lead both in score and relation to par since the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, where Dustin Johnson, Russell Henley, Ian Poulter and Scott Piercy held a share of the first-round lead with 1-under 69s.
- Tough Par-5s: Three of the four par-5s at The Club at Nine Bridges played to an over-par score during the first round. Only seven par-5s played to an over-par score during the entire 2017-18 season, two of which were par-5s at The Club at Nine Bridges.
- When Par is Good:Â During the first round, there were more bogeys (260) than birdies (241). To compare, at last week’s CIMB Classic, there were 1,503 birdies against 592 bogeys.
- Last Year’s Champ: The 2017 CJ Cup champion, Justin Thomas, opened with a 1-over 73 to sit five off the pace at T34.
- Last Week’s Champ: Coming off a five-shot win at last week’s CIMB Classic, Marc Leishman, opened with a 3-over 75 in his bid for back-to-back victories.
- Top-Ranked Player: World No. 3 Brooks Koepka, the 2017-18 PGA TOUR Player of the Year, opened with a 1-under 71 in his first start at Nine Bridges and was three shots back.
- Top Marksman: Former Masters winner Danny Willett, who’s been in a two-year funk, hit 14/14 fairways and 17/18 greens (both tops in the field) en route to a 3-under 69, good for T2.
- Top Korean: Overcoming a double bogey on the par-3 second hole, Si Woo Kim added a field-high six birdies to post a 3-under 69 and share second-place with Willett.
- Tough Finish: Starting on the back nine, Michael Kim was 4-under through 17 holes and held the solo lead (at the time) but a double bogey on his last hole – the par-5 ninth – dropped him two off the lead to T4.
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