A look at some stats and facts after round one of the WGC-HSBC Champions at Sheshan Golf Club (West) in Shanghai, China, where Brooks Koepka (64) leads Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Gavin Green by one shot.
BULLETS
- Brooks Koepka grabbed his first solo first-round lead in his PGA Tour career. He previously tied for the first-round lead at the 2015 FedEx St Jude Classic (64) and the Open Championship in July (65) where he went on to finish T3 and T6, respectively.
- Gavin Green (65), the 23-year-old Malaysian, currently leads the Asian Tour Order of Merit where he has won once and finished runner-up three times this season.
- Kiradech Aphibarnrat’s 65 is his lowest round on the PGA Tour, topping his previous best of 68 in the 2014 WGC-HSBC Champions.
- Patrick Reed opened with a 6-under 66 for the second straight week. The five-time PGA Tour winner finished T11 at the CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in South Korea.
- World No. 4 Hideki Matsuyama, the defending champion, carded a 74 for T67 position after carding three birdies, two bogeys and one triple bogey on the third hole.
- Austrian Bernd Wiesberger shot the tournament’s first hole-in-one on the par-3 fourth hole with a seven iron en route to a first round 71.
- South Africa’s Brandon Stone started his round with two bogeys (2 and 3) and ended with two doubles (15 and 17) to card the high round of the day (6-over 78).
- Wu Ashu emerged as the leading Chinese golfer after the opening day following a bogey free 67.
CHINESE PLAYERS
- Ashun Wu 67 (-5)
- Zecheng Dou 71 (-1)
- XInjun Zhang 71 (-1)
- Haotong Li 72 (-E)
- Wenchong Liang 72 (E)
- Yanwei Liu 72 (E)
- Yi Cao 74 (+2)
BOGEY-FREE ROUNDS
Gavin Green (65), Patrick Reed (66), Wu Ashun (67), Matt Kuchar (67)
SCORING AVERAGES
FRONT 9: 35.43
BACK 9: 35.30
TOTAL: 70.74
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