Chez Reavie rode the wind to the lead in the first round of the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges, third event of the new PGA Tour season.
The 36-year-old Reavie had three birdies in eight holes while finishing on the front nine to shoot 4-under-par 68 and take a one-stroke lead over Danny Willett of England and Si Woo Kim of South Korea at The Club at Nine Bridges http://www.ninebridges.co.kr/eng/ in Jeju Island, South Korea.
“It was a great day, I hit the ball really well,” said Reavie, whose only PGA Tour victory came in the 2008 RBC Canadian Open. “The wind was blowing really hard all day long, so you had to really start the ball well and keep it out of the wind. Luckily, I was able to do that.
“It’s tough because once you get above the hole with this wind, it’s really hard to chip it close. The more greens you can hit, the better, and that was key to my game.”
Reavie, who finished second in back-to-back starts last season in Phoenix and Pebble Beach, hit all 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens despite the windy conditions.
Willett, the 2016 Masters champion, collected four birdies in six holes through No. 9 en route to a 69, while Kim, the 2017 Players champion, equaled that score with a birdie on the last hole.
Michael Kim of Alameda and Cal was tied for the lead before making a double-bogey 7 on the last hole to finish at 70 and is tied for fourth with Nick Watney of Davis and Fresno State, Byeong Kim of South Korea, Rod Pampling of Australia, Ian Poulter of England, Scott Piercy and Austin Cook.
Third-ranked Brooks Koepka, playing for the first time since winning the Jack Nicklaus-PGA Tour Player of the Year Award, is tied for 11th at 71, while fourth-ranked Justin Thomas, the defending champion, opened with a 73 and is tied for 33rd.
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