KPGA Tour Hana Bank Invitational, Moon Dong-hyun starts in joint 3rd place... Wang Jeong-hoon and Kang Yun-seok joint lead

Dong-Hyun Moon, who leads the Genesis points, tied for third place on the first day of the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) Tour Hana Bank Invitational (total prize money of 1.3 billion won) and began the race for his first multiple wins of the season.

In the first round of the tournament held at the Victory Challenge Course (par 71) at Namchuncheon Country Club in Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do on the 18th, Dong-hyun Moon recorded 3 under par 68 along with 'veterans' In-chun Hwang, Chan-woo Kim, and Jan Schneiter (Germany), and was included in a tie for 3rd place.

Moon Dong-hyun, who broke the record as the youngest winner of the KPGA Championship at the age of 20 years and 2 months on the 7th, is showing off the power of 'young blood' by taking first place in Genesis points (2,391.67 points) and second place in prize money (445,669,244 won) ahead of this tournament.

On this day, Dong-Hyun Moon, who started from the 10th hole (par 5), made consecutive birdies in the 12th and 13th holes, and then missed a 3m par putt at the 1st hole (par 4), making his first bogey. Dong-Hyun Moon succeeded in turning things around with a birdie on the 3rd hole (par 3), and then closed the final 9th ​​hole (par 4) with a birdie, reducing 3 strokes on the first day.

The joint leaders are Wang Jeong-hoon and Kang Yun-seok, who both recorded 4 under par 67 strokes, one stroke behind tied for third place. Wang Jeong-hoon had 5 birdies and only 1 bogey, while Kang Yun-seok had 6 birdies and 2 bogeys.

Wang Jeong-hoon, who has yet to win on the KPGA Tour, is hoping for his first win as he has been in the top 10 four times in five tournaments this season, and Kang Yun-seok is also hoping for his first career win.

‘Veteran’ Hwang In-chun, winner of the 2010 Korea-China Tour KEB Hana Bank Invitational, also showed strength. Hwang In-chun recorded 3 under par 68 strokes with 5 birdies and 2 bogeys on this day, and began competing with juniors for rankings by tying for 3rd place.

Jang Yu-bin, who returned from LIV Golf this season and tasted victory in the previous tournament, the KPGA Classic, started from the 1st hole and was tied for 3rd until the 17th hole, but holed out with a bogey on the 18th hole and finished the first round with 2 under par 69 and tied for 7th place.

In addition, Takashi Ogiso (Japan), who won the 2024 tournament, started with 3 birdies and 2 bogeys, 1 under par 70 strokes, tied for 17th place.