Cameron Smith (Australia) was in danger of being eliminated from the cut due to over par on the first day of the PIF Saudi International (total prize money of 5 million dollars), the opening game of the Asian Tour.
On the first day of the tournament held at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club (par 70) near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on the 2nd (Korean time), Smith recorded a 3-over-par 73 with 2 birdies and 5 bogeys, starting with a tie for 88th place. As it is three strokes short of the cutoff standard, it is a position where you can pass the cut only when you hit 4-5 under par in the second round.
Smith has the highest world ranking of 4th out of 126 players participating in this tournament. At a press conference ahead of the opening of the tournament, he said, “It hurts that he couldn’t rise to the top of the world rankings.” Before moving to LIV Golf, Smith climbed to No. 2 in the world rankings and was on the verge of becoming the number one player, but due to interference from the PGA Tour related to rules, Smith had to move to LIV Golf without being able to rank first. 먹튀검증
Bryson Disembo (USA), who declared “I will no longer pursue long hits” before the opening of the tournament, recorded a 2-over-par 72 strokes due to a difficult putt and tied for 71st place. Disembo, who underwent temporomandibular joint surgery during the off-season to solve chronic dizziness, lost two strokes with 4 birdies and 6 bogeys that day. 33 putts.
Phil Mickelson (USA), who lost 9kg during the offseason, tied for 38th with an even par. The 52-year-old Mickelson showed confidence after losing weight, saying, “I’m in the same condition as when I was in college,” but he only recorded an even par, exchanging three bogeys with a birdie.
Abraham Anser (Mexico), who played in the same group as Mickelson, took 7 birdies at Novogie and took the lead with a 7-under-par 63, leading Sebastian Muñoz (Colombia) by one stroke in second place. Sergio Garcia (Spain) and Louis Ustuizen (South Africa) tied for third place with PGA Tour member Cameron Young (USA) with a 5-under-par 65 strokes.
Among Korean players, Kim Min-gyu had the best start, tied for ninth with a 3-under-par 67 strokes. Patrick Reed (USA), who finished runner-up at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic last week, is tied for ninth.
Lee Tae-hee is tied for 18th with a 2-under 68, and Park Sang-hyun is tied for 38th with an even par. However, Kim Yeong-soo, Moon Gyeong-jun (2 over par), Ok Tae-hun (3 over par), Kim Bio, and Jang Yi-geun (4 over par) were all over par and were in danger of missing the cut.