Moon Do-yeop and Kim Joo-hyung both opened near the top of the leaderboard on the first day of Asian Games golf, giving South Korea a strong start in its pursuit of gold.
Moon carded a bogey-free 4-under-par 66 with four birdies on the East Course (par 70) at Kasugai Country Club in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on the 30th, in the opening round of the men's golf competition at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. He sits in a tie for third, one shot behind co-leaders Kazuki Higa of Japan and Wang Wei-hsuan of Taiwan, who each shot a 5-under 65.
Moon settled into his rhythm with a birdie at the par-4 sixth, then added three more on the back nine. He picked up another stroke at the par-5 13th before making consecutive birdies at the par-3 15th and the par-4 16th.
Kim Joo-hyung, who plays on the U.S. PGA Tour, also got off to a smooth start with a 3-under 67 that included five birdies and two bogeys, leaving him tied for seventh. Kim flew to Japan immediately after finishing the Presidents Cup, the team competition between the United States and the International team, but appeared upbeat throughout the round. Kim Sung-hyun mixed an eagle, three birdies and three bogeys for a 2-under round and a tie for ninth.
South Korea is chasing a second straight team title after winning at the 2023 Hangzhou Games. There is added motivation as well. Moon has already completed his military service, but Kim Joo-hyung and Kim Sung-hyun must win gold at this tournament to be exempted from their military obligations.
In the team event, which combines the two best scores from each round, host Japan moved out in front. Higa at 5-under and Keita Nakajima at 4-under combined for 9-under. South Korea posted 7-under on the strength of Moon's 4-under and Kim Joo-hyung's 3-under, tied for second with China.
