[서울신문] It’s about a’bear trap’… Im Seong-jae, hunting for the championship again after a year

PGA Tour Honda Classic Title Defense Match
Jack Nicklaus shoulder-to-shoulder when 2 consecutive wins
Notorious for’Bear Trap’, a water-bunker course

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▲ Lim Seong-jae
Getty/AFP Yonhap News

Im Seong-jae (23) goes back to’bear hunting’ after a year.

The hunting ground is the PGA National Resort & Spa Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, which raised the first championship cup of the U.S. Professional Golf (PGA) tour last year and competed in the title defense for the first time this year.

Lim Seong-jae reported a beast-girl victory after two seasons of his debut on the PGA tour at the Honda Classic held on this course last March. At the time, after the fourth round, the PGA tour re-examined the ability to break through three holes from holes 15 to 17, saying, “Im Seong-jae tamed the’bear trap’.” This course is one of the places where tour players struggle every year. The Masters has’Amen’s Corner’, while the Honda Classic has’Bear Traps’.

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▲ At the entrance of Hall 15 of the PGA National Resort & Spa Champion Course in Florida, where the Honda Classic Tour of the American Professional Golf (PGA) Tour is held, there is a bear statue and a sign indicating the beginning of the’Bear Trap’.
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Since the fairways are running through water in succession and bunkers are lurking everywhere, it is not easy to pull out a long club with a lot of courage. If the green is solid and the wind blows, the ball flies in the air like fallen leaves and disappears into the water.

Originally designed and made by Tom Fazio, Jack Nicklaus (USA), nicknamed’Golden Bear (Golden Bear)’, remodeled it in the early 2000s. According to the US Golf Week, from 2007 to last year, 1515 balls in all three holes went into the water.

Lim Sung-jae scored a birdie-par-birdie one after another in the’Bear Trap’ in the fourth round last year, beaten second place Mackenzie Hughes (Canada) by one stroke and reported a thrilling victory.

This year, again, if you can strengthen yourself in the bear trap, you can stand shoulder to shoulder with Nicklaus, the only two consecutive defeats (1977~78) since its foundation in 1972. On the 16th, the PGA Tour put Im Seong-jae’s power ranking (ranking possible winning) in 3rd place.

Staff Reporter Choi Byung-gyu [email protected]