Published : Aug. 12, 2016 - 09:57
Though he has competed in his share of big events, South Korean golfer An Byeong-hun said he was still a nervous wreck standing on the first tee in the opening round of men's golf at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Thursday.
The 24-year-old was able to calm himself in time to card in a three-under 68 at par-71, 7,128-yard Olympic Golf Course, a solid performance that put him near the top of the leader board when his day was done.
"I am satisfied with the score," An said after teeing off in the first group with Adilson da Silva of Brazil and Graham Delaet of Canada. "It's important to have a good start because it's not an easy track. You need to have some under-par rounds."
Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald
An's group began the day at 7:30 a.m., when the wind didn't blow as hard as it did later in the day. An said he was able to take advantage of relatively benign conditions, with five of his seven birdies coming over the first nine holes.
An, the 2015 European Tour Rookie of the Year, said the Olympics felt a little different than other tournaments.
"I tend to get nervous on the first tee every week, but I think I got more so today because I wanted to shoot well," he said. "I've been trying to think of this as just another tournament, but representing the country with the letters "Korea" on my shirt, I had a lot of butterflies in my stomach."
With his adrenaline pumping on the first hole, An said he "smashed" his first tee shot 310 yards into the wind. His nerves also showed on the first green, where he picked up the first bogey in men's golf in Rio.
"As soon as I had that bogey, I thought to myself, 'Well, this is the first bogey of the Olympics,'" An said with a smile. "And of course, I also had the first birdie of the Olympics at the next hole."
An comes from a family of Olympians. His father, An Jae-hyoung, and mother, Jiao Zhimin from China, won table tennis medals at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The senior An is coaching the South Korean men's table tennis team in Rio.
Byeong-hun said it was "a great honor" to join his parents as an Olympic athlete, but he hasn't actually spoken to his father in Rio, with the table tennis competition well underway.
An said the greens were faster than he had seen during practice rounds on the first three days of the week, and the course setup overall was "great."
"To be honest, it's one of the best courses in the world," he added. "If the wind is going to stay like this, anywhere under-par is pretty good. It's such a tough track."
He said bunkers will present the biggest challenge because the ball tends to get buried in them. He had trouble getting it out of the sand traps all day.
"My plan is to try to do my best and finish as high as I can and not give up," he added. "I hope I can play like this in the second round -- with composure. There's still a lot of golf left." (Yonhap)