CHEONAN, October 6, 2011 (AFP) - Defending champion Y.E. Yang and American Rickie Fowler set the first round pace at the Kolon Korea Open Thursday with US Open champion Rory McIlroy just one shot off the pace.
In an eventful first round, 2010 US PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Fowler carded a four-under-par 67 before South Korea's Yang matched the American’s tally in the OneAsia event, despite being forced to battle increased winds.
World number three McIlroy carded seven birdies but twice found the water on his way to a 68. He sits tied for third at three under alongside South Korea’s Hong Soon-Sang and Hong's amateur compatriot Lee Soo-Min.
"I birdied the first hole of the day and that helped lot. I played well and enjoyed the round," said Yang, who overcame a 10-shot final round deficit last year to win a second Kolon Korea Open title.
The 39-year-old 2009 PGA Championship winner was a model of consistency throughout his opening round with the majority of his birdie conversions coming from inside eight feet at the Woo Jeong Hills Country Club.
"I am not worried about missing the cut and I think I can play well over the final three rounds. I think 12 or 13 under par will be the winning score at the end of the week," said Yang, who dropped his only shots of the round following a pair of two putt bogeys.
Despite making his Ryder Cup debut last year in the defeat by Europe at Celtic Manor, 22-year-old Fowler is still searching for a maiden title, and is well placed to make his first visit to Korea a successful one.
"I played well and drove the ball well which is important. I made a few birdies, but unfortunately I didn’t play the par fives as well as I had hoped," said the American.
"I hit poor drives on those holes and on this course you have to drive the ball well to score. The score would have been really low if I had played them better, but it is something to improve on."
McIlroy had his chance to claim at least a share of the first round lead, but after first finding water at the 11th and being forced to settle for a double-bogey six, the 22-year-old paid the price for attempting to drive the final green and dropped his fourth shot of the round.
"The shot on 11 was just a bad shot, while on 18 the wind just grabbed it. I was aggressive, but I want to play aggressively," he said.
First round scores from the OneAsia Kolon Korea Open on Thursday (par 71):
67 - Rickie Fowler (USA), Y.E. Yang (KOR)
68 - Hong Soon-Sang (KOR), Lee Soo-Min (A,KOR), Rory McIlroy (NIR)
69 - Kim Meen-Whee (KOR), Andrew Tschudin (AUS), Ronald Harvey (CAN), John Huh (USA), Zhang Xinjun (CHN)
70 - Bronson La'Cassie (AUS), David Oh (USA), Choi Ho-Sung (KOR)
71 - Joo Heung-Chol (KOR), Stephen Allan (AUS), Lee Boo-Young (KOR), Mo Joong-Kyung (KOR)
72 - Hwang Jae-Min (KOR), Adam Crawford (AUS), Maeng Dong-Seop (KOR), Kim Seung-Hyuk (KOR), Lee Ki-Sang (KOR), Noh Seung-Yul (KOR), Steven Jones (AUS), Han Min-Kyu (KOR), Jang Ik-Jae (KOR), Park Do-Kyu (KOR), Anthony Brown (AUS), Scott Laycock (AUS), Jung Jae-Hoon (KOR), Peter Cooke (AUS), Yoon Jung-Ho (KOR)