Kim Si-woo (CJ) opened his sponsor's tournament with a sharp performance, placing himself among the leaders after the first round.
Kim carded a 7-under 64 with eight birdies and one bogey in the first round of the PGA Tour's The CJ Cup Byron Nelson (total purse $10.3 million) at TPC Craig Ranch (par 71) in McKinney, Texas, on Wednesday. He stood tied for fourth, two strokes behind sole leader Taylor Moore of the United States.
Playing alongside world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and 2018 tournament winner Brooks Koepka, Kim showcased precision and steadily lowered his score. He hit 92.86% of fairways, reached 88.9% of greens in regulation, and averaged 1.63 putts per hole, demonstrating a polished all-around game.
Starting on the 10th hole (par 4), Kim got off to a smooth start by sinking a birdie putt of about 22 meters on his opening hole.
He added birdies on the 12th (par 5) and 14th (par 4) holes, and shaved off another stroke on the 17th (par 3), surging into contention.
The momentum carried over to the back nine. On the 2nd hole (par 4), he stuck his second shot from 133 yards to within 70 centimeters of the cup for birdie, then drained his sixth birdie of the day on the 3rd hole (par 4).
Kim then traded a birdie and a bogey on the 5th (par 5) and 7th (par 3) holes, before adding one more birdie on the closing 9th hole (par 5) to wrap up his round.
"My putting was really on," Kim said after the round. "My shots wavered a bit, but I was able to accept it well. It was a good day." He added, "The greens were trickier than I expected, but my putter came through and helped me put together a good round."
Koepka, who played alongside Kim, posted a bogey-free 8-under 63 with eight birdies, placing him tied for second, one stroke off the lead.
Defending champion Scheffler also stayed on course for back-to-back titles, signing for a 5-under 66.
Moore took the sole lead at 9 under. With a flawless bogey-free round of nine birdies, he positioned himself for a chance at his second career PGA Tour win, three years after his 2023 Valspar Championship title.
Other Korean players also made their presence felt. Noh Seung-yul stood tied for 32nd at 4 under, while Im Sung-jae and Kim Joo-hyung each shot 3 under to share 47th place after the opening round.
