Journeyman Chan Kim fired a career-low, 9-under-par 61 to grab a four-shot lead after one round of the ISCO Championship on Thursday in Louisville, Ky.
Hurstbourne Country Club is making its PGA Tour debut hosting the alternate event that has been played in the Lexington area since 2018.
Kim has plenty of reason to enjoy the new venue. He got an early jolt by holing out for eagle with a 50-degree wedge at the par-4 fourth hole. He followed that with seven birdies between Nos. 5-17, punctuated by a 24-foot birdie putt at the par-3 17th.
Kim, 35, has never won on the PGA Tour but has collected 10 titles between the Japan Golf Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour.
“We had a pretty good game plan set out for specific tee shots and for specific hole locations and I thought we did that really well today,” Kim said. “I think if we continue to do that and try and basically hit every green, I think we’ll be OK.”
In a distant tie for second at 5-under 65 are Peter Malnati, Germany’s Thomas Rosenmueller and Callum Shinkwin of England.
Shinkwin holed out on his third hole, the par-4 12th, on his way to a bogey-free round. The 32-year-old has won twice in Europe, but not yet on the PGA Tour.
“I didn’t make any mistakes, which is obviously key,” Shinkwin said. “You know, it’s very easy to lose concentration in the heat and I managed to do that very well and not make any mistakes.”
The most experienced player near the top of the leaderboard is the 38-year-old Malnati, who has two wins on the PGA Tour, including the Valspar Championship just last year. He had six birdies Thursday, including three in a row at Nos. 14-16.
“I said this when I won last year, the tour’s so competitive now. Like it’s so competitive,” Malnati said. “And like obviously you can’t win a tournament on a Thursday, and we’re literally, you know, one quarter of the way through the tournament, so I’ve achieved nothing yet. But to just be in a position to like feel really good walking off the course after the first round, it’s a good feeling, it’s a really good feeling.”
Kevin Kisner, Troy Merritt, Steven Fisk, Spaniard Angel Ayora and Chile’s Cristobal Del Solar are tied at 4-under 66.
–Field Level Media
