Jang Yu-bin, Seeking Back-to-Back Wins, Ties for 8th on Day 1 of Hana Bank Invitational

Jang Yu-bin, who is aiming for his second consecutive victory on the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) Tour, finished the first day of the Hana Bank Invitational in a tie for 8th place.

In the first round of the tournament held at Namchuncheon Country Club in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, Jang carded three birdies and one bogey for a 2-under-par 70.

He sits in a tie for 8th, two strokes behind co-leaders Wang Jeung-hun and Kang Yoon-seok, who both finished at 4-under-par.

Jang, who won last week's KPGA Classic with I'm Vita, is now challenging for back-to-back titles.

After winning the 2024 Grand Prize and topping the prize money list, Jang became the first Korean player to join the LIV Golf league last year. However, after failing to produce notable results, he returned to the domestic tour this year, securing his first win since his return and the fourth victory of his career at last week's tournament.

Wang Jeung-hun and Kang Yoon-seok are tied for the lead at 4-under-par, while Hwang In-chun, Moon Dong-hyun, Kim Chan-woo, Cho Min-gyu, and Jan Schneider (Germany) are tied for 3rd at 3-under-par.

The tournament, which features a total prize purse of 1.3 billion won and a winner's prize of 260 million won, will run through this Sunday (June 21).

(Photo: Courtesy of KPGA)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.