Korea’s Si Woo Kim took advantage of a lucky bounce and produced a miraculous chip-in birdie on the demanding 18^th hole at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard for tied sixth place on Thursday, his best position in any round since his tournament debut in 2016.

The four-time PGA TOUR winner battled to a 2-under 70 on a tough scoring day in the US$20 million Signature event to trail first round leader Wyndham Clark (67) by three, with Keegan Bradley, Shane Lowry, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Corey Conners sharing second place after matching 69s.

Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama was the next best Asian in tied 19^th place following a 73 which featured two birdies over his closing three holes, as scores soared due to swirly winds and a tough course set-up which yielded an average score of 74.6.

Kim was relieved to escape with an unlikely birdie on the par-4 18^th hole, ranked fourth hardest for the day, after his approach shot ricochetted off some rocks in a water hazard guarding the front of the green before landing in thick rough. After a free drop, he brilliantly chipped in from about 80 feet.

“The wind pushed the ball to the right, but luckily it stayed in play and I went on to chip in (for birdie). It was nice to finish the round on a positive note,” smiled the 29-year-old.

“It was a good round. It was very windy out there, especially with the rough being up. It played a little hard but I just kept patient and got a great finish. I’m looking forward to the next few days.”

It was only Kim’s sixth round of 70 or better at Bay Hill in what was his 28^th round in the prestigious tournament held in honour of the legendary Arnold Palmer, winner of 62 PGA TOUR victories and credited for popularizing the game during his heydays.

Kim, making his 10^th start in the event, knows he needs to stick closely to the proverbial one-shot-at-time routine at a venue which his best finish is T26 in 2022. “You need to wait for opportunities. I plan to keep working hard for the next three days,” said Kim, who is still without a top-10 this season.

He found only seven fairways and 12 greens in regulation, and converted birdies on Hole Nos. 5, 13 and 16 against dropped shots on the third and sixth holes. Kim said the windy condition reminded him of being in his U.S. base in Dallas.

“With the wind, the ball moves a lot. It’s a bit challenging to calculate the wind. It’s similar to practice conditions in Dallas, where the wind is also strong, so I felt okay trying to manage the conditions,” he said.

Sungjae Im and Byeong Hun An carded 76s while Tom Kim came home with a 78. Defending champion and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler opened his campaign with a 71 while World No. 3 Xander Schauffele, making his first start following a rib injury, shot a 77.

First-Round Notes – Thursday, March 6, 2025

Weather: Sunny with a high of 67. Wind WNW 14-18 mph with gusts of 25 mph.

First-Round Leaderboard

Pos. Player                            R1

1 Wyndham Clark                67 (-5)

T2 Keegan Bradley               69 (-3)

T2 Corey Conners                 69 (-3)

T2 Christiaan Bezuidenhout 69 (-3)

T2 Shane Lowry                    69 (-3)

Wyndham Clark (1^st/-5)

• Sixth first-round lead/co-lead on in a stroke play even and second of the season (2025 WM Phoenix Open/finished T16); has never converted a first-round lead/co-lead to victory; 10 first-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational (most recent: Jason Day/2016); no first-round leader/co-leader has won during the 2025 season
• Fourth player in 2025 with multiple first-round leads/co-leads; others: Tom Hoge (The Sentry, Sony Open in Hawaii), Harry Hall (Sony Open in Hawaii, Mexico Open at VidantaWorld), Denny McCarthy (Sony Open in Hawaii, The Genesis Invitational)
• Finished runner-up at the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational, his best finish in four starts at Bay Hill; the last player to finish runner-up and win the same tournament the following year: Robert MacIntyre (2023, 2024 Genesis Scottish Open)
• Runner-up finish at the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational was his first of consecutive runner-up finishes in 2024, both of which he lost to Scottie Scheffler (other: THE PLAYERS Championship)
• 5-under 67 marks his second-lowest round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (66/R2/2024)
• Has three career PGA TOUR titles, including one major (2023 U.S. Open) and two Signature Events (2023 Truist Championship, 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am)
• Sixth start of the 2025 season with a T15 at The Sentry his best finish.

Miscellaneous Notes

• Shane Lowry (T2) went eagle-par-bogey to finish at 3-under 69, two shots off the lead; held the solo-lead after the first round of the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational and went on to finish third behind winner Scottie Scheffler and runner-up Wyndham Clark, his best finish in six starts at Bay Hill
• Keegan Bradley (T2) has four top-10s in 13 previous starts at Bay Hill: T3/2013, 2^nd/2014, T10/2021, T10/2023
• World No. 1 and defending champion Scottie Scheffler (T11) posted a 1-under 71 and sits four shots off the lead; the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational was the first of seven PGA TOUR wins in the 2024 season, including back-to-back titles at Bay Hill and next week’s PLAYERS Championship
• 2018 Arnold Palmer Invitational champion Rory McIlroy (T6), who won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in his season debut, is three back at 2-under 70; moved to No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking this week, passing Xander Schauffele, who held the No. 2 position since May 2024
• Christiaan Bezuidenhout (T2/-3) and Max Greyserman (T6/-2) are the only players under par that have yet to win on TOUR
• Xander Schauffele (T52), who is making his first start since The Sentry in January following a rib injury, recorded a 5-over 77, his highest score in 13 rounds at Bay Hill; has a round of 74 or worse in each of three previous starts at Bay Hill
• Arnold Palmer Cup Exemption recipient Jackson Koivun (T15), a sophomore at Auburn University, opened with an even-par 72; the No. 2-ranked amateur has 18 points in PGA TOUR University Accelerated and can reach the 20-point threshold to become eligible for PGA TOUR membership with a made cut (1 point) and top-10 finish (1 point); last week, Florida State junior Luke Clanton became the second player (Gordon Sargent) to become eligible for PGA TOUR membership through PGA TOUR University Accelerated after making the cut at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches (finished T18)
• One of three Signature Events to feature a cut, the field will be reduced after 36 holes to low 50 players and ties and any additional players within 10 strokes of the 36-hole lead.