Kim Seizes His Opportunity

Kim Bi-o is the latest Korean player to come rolling off the country’s relentless production line of professional golfers.

The 20-year-old caught the eye with an eight-under-par 63 in the first round of the Barclays Singapore Open to lie a shot behind leader Ignacio Garrido of Spain.

Playing the shorter Tanjong Course at Sentosa Golf Club, he reeled off eight birdies in a bogey free round.

Kim was handed a spot in the US$6 million Barclays Singapore Open by virtue of a good season on the Korean Tour where he is fifth on the moneylist.

With an expanded field of 204 players, the organisers of the tournament granted spots to regional tours, including Korea.

Kim seized the opportunity with both hands although the confident youngster felt he could have done even better.

"I had a lot of opportunities to make a lot of birdies," he said. "Eight birdies is a lot but I still missed about four birdie putts from inside 10 feet or I could have been 12-under-par for today."

Kim is rubbing shoulders with Major winners like Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell in the biggest tournament of his young career but he does not have the entourages of the stars, who are trailed by agents, coaches, trainers and psychologists.

"I don’t even have a coach at the moment," said Kim, who was second behind countryman Y.E. Yang in the Kolon Korea Open on OneAsia last month. "I tried to find a short game coach but I have not found one yet."