Byung-Hun birded a bogey nine in a first-round 61 to take the outright three-stroke lead at the Scottish Open on Thursday.
An, three-time runner-up and no PGA Tour win in his 175 career starts, made 10-under starts, with five birdies, hitting the round with 30. His final shot for birdie in the ninth tied his course record and left him at 9-under, 3 strokes better than Rory McIlroy and Thomas Dietry at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland.
“I couldn’t play better,” said Ann. “I drove it well, hit it well, cracked it well and hit it well. That’s a clean scorecard.”
McIlroy held the lead for part of the first round on Thursday, climbing to the top of the leaderboard with an eagle on the 630-yard, par-5 No. 3, 12th hole of the day.
The 31-year-old missed the ace in the 14th over and tapped it through four consecutive birdies in his opening nine. He grabbed the lead for good with a chip within 3 feet and the ensuing birdie putt on No. 3 to get to 7 under.
One month after switching to a broomstick after consulting with fellow pros Sei Woo Kim and Adam Scott about the value of the change.
“I’ve talked to my other broomstick mates—Adam, Si Wu—asking the pros and cons about it, and I’ve talked to my betting coach,” Ann said. “We said, It looked good and it felt good, and we’re trying to get our hands off it and it helps me a lot with the long bat.”
McIlroy, who started 5-7 holes in, wasn’t lamenting a missed opportunity to bowl off an even lower number. He came off the course pleased with his position, admitting he struggled to read in the practice runs due to the slow pace of the green links.
“I got off to a great start, a really quick start,” McIlroy said. “[Putting was] Probably the only thing I wasn’t worried about going into today. But more like I was wondering… I didn’t feel like I might have had enough time to adjust to the green ties, and I didn’t fare well in the pro [Wednesday]. “
South Korean KH Lee shot a 5-under 65 and tied for fourth ahead of a par 4-under 66 pack including American Will Gordon, who had a bogey stroke at the 18th. Eoin Ferguson of Scotland also bogeyed the last hole, the ninth, to join the lead. crowd at 4 under.
Dietry came within a mustache of an ace on No. 17 and closed out the front nine with a pair of birdies on No. 8-9 to pull even with McIlroy though two bogeys.
“I was inches from going two cars away today,” Dietry joked about the near miss in No. 17. “But yeah, I played some really good golf today. I actually had some big misses, but every time I managed to get some Ups and downs and keep going.”