Wi Chang-soo, 54, took a share of the lead after the opening day of the 46th US Senior Open, a PGA senior major with a total purse of $4 million.
Wi shot a 3-under-par 67 in the first round held at Scioto Country Club (par 70) in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday (Korea time), carding six birdies, one bogey and one double bogey. Sharing the top line of the leaderboard with Stewart Cink of the United States, he set up a chance to chase his first-ever PGA Tour Champions victory at a major.
Wi, who won five times on the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) Tour between 2001 and 2005, has no wins on the US PGA Tour, which he joined in 2005, or on the senior circuit PGA Tour Champions. This season, he has recorded three top-five finishes across 11 Champions events, including one tie for third.
Starting on the 10th hole Thursday, Wi was even par through his first 11 holes with two birdies and two bogeys, then reeled off five straight birdies from the 3rd through the 7th hole to briefly take the sole lead. His disappointment came on the 8th hole (par 4), where he dropped his second shot into the water near the green and lost two strokes at once. Wi became the 14th player in the tournament's history to make five consecutive birdies.
Cink, 53, has won four times this year, including the senior majors Senior PGA Championship and Regions Tradition. If he also captures this US Senior Open, he would sweep these three senior majors in succession for the first time since Jack Nicklaus of the United States in 1991. Yang Yong-eun, who has one PGA Tour Champions title, and Choi Kyoung-ju, who has two, finished the first day tied for 26th (1-over-par) and tied for 58th (3-over-par), respectively.
