UF MGOLF | Gators Complete Day One of The Open
SANDWICH, England – After day one of The 149th Open Championship, Yuxin Lin<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_roster.aspx-3Frp-5Fid-3D14316&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=tlAOs4ZuT4-5UYps3EMWFnJ6vVWE9ZNYwBFwUKCs130&s=8zoho9kcOBZpGyaCAWEjSu3DR4gmHvOiU7aDnm9hIEs&e= > leads all amateurs with a 1-under-par (69) performance on Thursday.
The current Florida junior originally qualified to play in the 2020 Open after winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in 2019, but it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lin set the tone for his round with a birdie on the first hole and pars in back-to-back. He erased a bogey on the fourth and stayed on track, highlighted by a birdie on the eighth hole known as “Hades” which is the toughest on the course according to experts, to finish at 34 (-1) on the front nine. Three straight pars concluded his second round of 35 to sit at 69 (-1) tied for 32nd.
Sam Horsfield<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_sports_mens-2Dgolf_roster_sam-2Dhorsfield_9859&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=tlAOs4ZuT4-5UYps3EMWFnJ6vVWE9ZNYwBFwUKCs130&s=iVAUXZ1kXX9O1fHDIZgJqzlzJFAWU8slxDfkwbqZXo8&e= > was the first Gator to take Royal St. Georges in round one. He gained momentum in his inaugural debut at the British Open with a bogey-free front nine for a 2-under-par (33) start. The back nine tripped him up a bit and he pulled away finishing even (70) on the day.
Rounding out the UF trio was Billy Horschel<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_sports_mens-2Dgolf_roster_billy-2Dhorschel_2242&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=tlAOs4ZuT4-5UYps3EMWFnJ6vVWE9ZNYwBFwUKCs130&s=wukbxe3ve4n26Z1F5sCJ58MlnyBEj7lUldeCpKCS0hE&e= >, who also finished even (70) in his first round. He birdied three out of the last four on the front nine to finish with a score of 34 (-1). After seven consecutive pars to begin the back nine, a bogey on the 17th put him a tick over at 36 (+1).
Round two is set for Friday with Horschel starting at 2:52 a.m. followed by Horsfield at 7:31 a.m. and Lin at 10:32 a.m.
Coverage begins tomorrow at 4 a.m. ET on the Golf Channel.
