Reporter Kwon Hoon = Ahn Byeong-hoon (32) gave his strength.
On the 25th (Korean time), Byeong-hun Ahn shot a 5 under par 65 in the second round of the PGA Tour Honda Classic (total prize money: $8.4 million) held at the PGA National Champion Course (par 70) in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA. .
Ahn Byung-hun, who finished the half-point with a tie for 10th place (5 under par, 135 strokes), up 39 steps from the previous day, is looking forward to his second top 10 in five months after a tie for fourth at the Fortinet Championship, the first event of the season last September.
He is five strokes ahead of Korean Justin Seo (USA), who took the lead.
An Byeong-hoon, who was pushed out of the PGA Tour due to poor performance in the 2020-2021 season and returned to the PGA Tour after playing on the Korn Ferry Tour last year, missed the cut only 3 times in 12 tournaments this season, but the top 10, which will take a lot of prize money and points, is expected. I struggled without it.
This year, the best result was a tie for 12th at the Sony Open in January.
Ahn Byeong-hun, who had to take a break for two weeks because he was unable to qualify for the WM Phoenix Open and the Genesis Invitational, which were held prior to this tournament, was given a boost by his green play, which had been considered a weakness. 안전놀이터
Ahn Byeong-hoon, who started the game on the 10th hole, made his first birdie on the 16th hole (par 4), but improved the atmosphere by reducing one more stroke on the 1st hole (par 4).
Ahn Byeong-hun, who gained momentum by putting a 7m eagle putt on hole 3 (par 5), threatened the leading group by drawing consecutive birdies on holes 4 (par 4) and 5 (par 3).
In the 9th hole (par 4), the scene where he missed the green and failed to put a par putt of about 3m left a regret.
Lim Seong-jae (25), the champion of this tournament in 2020 and nominated by the expert group as the number one candidate for the championship, lost one stroke and was pushed to a tie for 28th place (2 under par 138 strokes).
The double bogey on the 3rd hole (par 5) where Ahn Byeong-hoon caught an eagle was painful.
In hole 3, Im Seong-jae’s third shot aimed at the green in the rough fell into the water on the left side of the green. Lim Seong-jae, who hit the green after five strokes after receiving a penalty, holed out with two putts and lost two strokes.
Justin Seo, who entered the PGA Tour splendidly by winning the final match of last year’s Korn Ferry Tour season after being ranked first in the amateur world rankings, took the lead with a 6-under-par 66 and an interim total of 10-under-par 130.
Contrary to expectations, Justin Seo, who tied for 29th in The CJ Cup without ever winning the top 10, inflated expectations for his first win in his life with a marvelous putt that would be sucked into the hole when it went only to the green.
He wrote down a bogey on hole 2 (par 4) that day, but later swept 7 birdies, including 4 consecutive birdies.