South Koreans Byeong Hun An and Sungjae Im took advantage of the soft conditions better than the rest of the field in the first round of the Wyndham Championship one day after heavy rain.
An (pictured) and Im recorded bogey-free 8-under-par 62s to take a one-stroke lead over Rory Sabbatini of Slovakia, Mackenzie Hughes of Canada, Johnson Wagner and Patrick Rodgers of Stanford after the first round of the PGA Tour’s regular-season finale at Sedgefield Country Club https://www.sedgefieldcc.com/ in Greensboro, N.C.
Players are jockeying for position in the FedEx Cup standings in the final event of the regular season heading into the playoffs.
The top 125 qualify for the Northern Trust next week at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, N.J., with 70 moving on to the BMW Championship at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago the following week, and only 30 reaching the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta on Aug. 22.
“The greens were rolling pure, so I needed to make a lot of birdies out there,” said An, who began the week at No. 82 in the FedEx Cup standings and must play well to get into the last two events of the playoffs. “I didn’t miss any short putts.
“One good round won’t do it, so I need to keep it up and make a lot of birdies. I’ve been playing well the last couple weeks, so I like how everything is kind of clicking together, my long game and putting.”
An, who has won three times as a pro since leaving Cal in 2011 but not on the PGA Tour, also had four birdies on the front nine in beating by two strokes his career-low round or 84 established this season in the WGC Mexico Championship.
Im, No. 25th in the standings, equaled An’s bogey-free 62 by also making four birdies on each nine later in the day.
Sabbatini, who has won six times on the PGA Tour, sank a seven-foot eagle putt on the 15th hole but made his only bogey by finishing his 63 on the ninth hole or he would be tied for the lead.
“It hit driver on most holes and was able to hit the fairway, which left me a lot of short irons and wedges,” said Sabbatini, who hasn’t won since the 2011 Honda Classic but has five top-10 finishes this season and is 44th in the FedEx Cup standings. “Then I was able to hit the greens to have birdie opportunities and I made a bunch of them.
“I went and changed all my irons and most of my equipment this week just to do some testing and seems to be paying off pretty well, so I don’t think my caddie’s going to let me go back to my old equipment.”
Rodgers, 96th in the standings, matched that 63 with birdies on four of his last six holes, while Hughes, 103rd, collected five birdies on the back nine, and Wagner
and Wagner, No. 156, sank a nine-foot birdie putt on the last hole.
Jordan Spieth holed a 19-foot eagle putt on the 15th hole, but made a bogey on the last to shoot 64 and is tied for sixth with defending champion Brandt Snedeker, 2011 Wyndham champ Webb Simpson, Josh Teater, Brice Garnett, Seamus Power of Ireland, Ryan Armour, Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand and Ted Potter Jr.
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