Dustin Johnson’s (USA) start to 2023 isn’t great.
Johnson withdrew from the first round of PIF Saudi International (total prize money of $5 million), the opening game of the 2023 Asian Tour held at the Royal Greens & Golf & Country Club (par 70) in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia on the afternoon of the 2nd (Korean time). Johnson complained of back pain from the practice round, and did not participate in the pro-am. He eventually withdrew from the tournament. 스포츠토토
Johnson is the flagship player of the LIV Golf Invitational, which was launched last year. In the first year of his inception, he won first place in the individual event, won the prize money, and won the team event, showing his best performance. But the back was a problem. Johnson often suffered from back problems while playing on the PGA Tour.
Abraham Anser (Mexico) took the place of Johnson, who was a strong candidate for the championship. Anser picked 7 birdies without bogey and beat Sebastian Muñoz (6 under par, 64 strokes, Colombia) by 1 stroke.
The tournament is sponsored by the Saudi Arabian Sovereignty Fund (PIF), which offers a huge prize money. Thanks to this, a large number of players from LIV participated and occupied the top of the leaderboard. Sergio Garcia (Spain) and Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) were approved by the PGA Tour and tied for third place with a 5 under par 65 strokes with Cameron Young (USA), the winner of the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in the 2021-2022 season, who participated in the tournament.
Eight Korean players participated. Among them, Kim Min-gyu had the best performance in the first round with a 3-under-par 67 for ninth place. Kim Min-kyu tied for 9th place with Patrick Reed and Jason Cocrack (above USA) with 5 birdies and 2 bogeys.