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| Lim Seong-jae hits the tee at the World Golf Championship (WGC) Workday Championship. © AFP=News1 |
Im Seong-jae (23, CJ Logistics) made a pleasant start on the first day of the World Golf Championship (WGC) Workday Championship ($10.5 million in prize money).
In the first round of the tournament held at The Concession Golf Club (par 72‧7474 yards) in Bradenton, Florida, USA on the 26th (Korean time), Lim Sung-jae tied 6 birdies and 2 bogies to write a 4 under par 68.
With this, Lim Seong-jae was tied for 7th place with John Ram (Spain),’Defensive Champion’ and Patrick Reed (USA), ‘2nd in the world ranking’. It’s two shots against Matthew Fitzpatrick (UK) and Webb Simpson (US), who tied the lead with 66 strokes under 6 under par.
The WGC is a special event with a total prize pool of more than 10 million dollars, and is classified as a major competition following the major competitions and the Players Championship. In line with this, a large number of world ranking top players participated.
Lim Seong-jae, the only Korean player to compete in this tournament, is the second Asian player to challenge the championship at WGC after Hideki Matsuyama (Japan). Matsuyama has topped the list at the HSBC Champions in 2016 and the Bridgestone Invitational in 2017.
Im Seong-jae, who proudly aimed to win the championship before the tournament, successfully started the game with successive birdies on the 2nd hole (par 4) and the 3rd hole (par 5). He also caught a birdie on the 5th hole (par 3).
It seemed to be shaken as it stopped at the 7th hole (par 5), but he made up for the mistake by recording a birdie on the 8th hole (par 4).
Im Seong-jae, who played the game calmly, ended the first round by reducing 4 strokes by catching a birdie in the 15th hole (par 4) and the 17th hole (par 5).
Brooks Kepka (USA), who had won the PGA Tour Waist Management Phoenix Open last month after suffering sluggishness after knee surgery in 2019, announced a resurgence, with 5 under par 67 Tarot Billy Horshal, Kaven Kesner (above USA), Sergio It was tied for third place with Garcia (Spain).
Dustin Jones, currently ranked No. 1 in the world rankings, lost his face by finishing a tie for 64th with a 5-over par with 77 strokes.