Shin Sang-hoon sits 1 shot off lead after opening round of Genesis Championship

Shin Sang-hoon sits in sole second place, one shot off the lead, after the opening round of the Genesis Championship, a co-sanctioned event between the KPGA Tour and the DP World Tour.

Shin carded six birdies and one bogey for a 5-under-par 66 Thursday at Woojeong Hills Country Club (par 71) in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, finishing one stroke behind leader Casey Jarvis of South Africa. Shin returned to competitive play this season after completing his mandatory military service, won the KPGA Tour's Golfzon Open in a playoff over Jeong Chan-min and currently leads the Genesis Points standings.

He opened with a bunker shot to tap-in range for a birdie on the par-4 first hole, then bounced back from a bogey on the fourth with a birdie on the fifth. On the par-4 ninth, he holed a 30-meter chip-in birdie, then drained consecutive birdie putts of 6 meters and 4.8 meters on the 11th and 12th holes. He closed on the par-5 18th, sticking an approach to within 80 centimeters of the pin for a tap-in birdie.

"I generally like difficult courses, and Woojeong Hills is definitely tough," Shin said after his round. "The greens have subtle breaks and the course management is demanding — one mistake anywhere from the tee shot to the putt and you're looking at a bogey. Today my short game held up and the putter was working, so everything came together."

Jarvis, who won the Magical Kenya Open and the Investec South African Open on the DP World Tour this season, leads by one shot after firing a 6-under-par 65, with seven birdies and one bogey.

Kim Si-woo, the highest-ranked player in the field at world No. 14, is tied for third after a 4-under-par 67. He made five birdies against one bogey and said the pin positions tested him early. "There were more tricky pin positions than I expected early on, which made it hard to attack directly," Kim said. "There were a lot of difficult holes and I got a bit anxious and tense after making a bogey, but I kept trying to stick to my game. I gradually got a feel for the turf and the greens and started to find my rhythm in the back nine."

Ryan Fox of New Zealand, who won The Open Championship this season, is tied for eighth at 3-under-par 68. Starting from the 10th hole, Fox traded birdies and bogeys on his front nine to finish even par through that stretch, then birdied three of his final four holes to close strongly.

Im Sung-jae, who finished runner-up at last week's Asian Tour Macao Open, is tied for 33rd after an even-par round of two birdies and two bogeys, alongside Moon Do-yeop, Lee Su-min and Choi Seung-bin. "Woojeong Hills is a tough course with a lot of tricky spots, so it's important to stay out of trouble and avoid mistakes," Im said. "My tee shots were decent today, but I was disappointed with my scrambling in the back nine. Starting tomorrow, I'll focus on that and try not to drop any more shots."

Defending champion Lee Jeong-hwan is tied for 53rd after a 1-over-par 72. Wang Jeong-hun, winner of the Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Choi Kyung-ju Invitational, managed only a 3-over-par 74, leaving him tied for 87th alongside Lee Kyung-hoon. Long hitter Jeong Chan-min, who won the Charity Classic last week, carded a 4-over-par 75 to sit tied for 100th and faces the danger of missing the cut.