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| Lim Sung-jae tied for sixth in the second round of the PGA Tour Century Tournament of Champions. © AFP=News1 |
Im Seong-jae (23, CJ Logistics) maintained the top rank on the second day of the’Wang Jung King’ competition, where the US Professional Golf (PGA) Tour Champions participate.
Lim Seong-jae in the second round of the PGA Tour Century Tournament of Champions (total prize money of $6.7 million) held at Kapalua Resort Plantation Course (par 73, 7596 yards) in Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii, USA on the 9th (Korean time), 6 birdies and 1 bogie He tied the team and scored a 5-under par 68.
Lim Sung-jae, who recorded a total of 135 strokes at 11-under par, was tied for sixth place, three strokes behind Harris English (US), a leader at 14 under par.
Colin Morikawa, Ryan Palmer, Daniel Burger, and Justin Thomas (above the United States) were tied for second place with 12 under par 134 strokes. Patrick Reed and Brendon Todd (USA) were tied for sixth place with Lim Sung-jae.
The’Sentry Tournament of Champions’ is a tournament in the nature of’king of kings’ in which the winners of the PGA Tour of the previous season compete.
However, not many competitions were held in the aftermath of a novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) last year, so this year, athletes participating in the 2020 Tour Championship (within the 30th ranked FedEx Cup ranking) will also compete together. A total of 42 people participated.
Lim Seong-jae obtained the right to participate in this tournament with his first PGA Tour victory at the Honda Classic in March last year.
At the first convention of the new year, Im Seong-jae showed a good feeling for two consecutive days.
Excluding the 7th hole (par 4) bogie, it continued the upward trend by catching 6 birdies. On this day, the hit rate of the green was 88.89%, and the fairway landing rate was also close to perfect at 86.67%.
Im Seong-jae, who gained momentum as a buddy on the 5th and 6th holes in a row, stagnated as the second shot fell into the bunker on the 7th hole (par 4).
Im Seong-jae, who changed the flow by catching the birdie again in the 9th hole (par 5), continued to have a good momentum in the second half. He added a birdie with an elaborate putt on the 11th hole (par 3), and recorded a continuous birdie on holes 14-15.
In the last hole of 18 (par 5), Im Seong-jae returned to the hole cup with a converting birdie putt, but on that day, he continued to compete to win by reducing his five strokes.
After the game, Im Seong-jae said, “Overall, the shot was too good, and there were many chances, but the putt was not good. It seems that the buddy’s opportunity was unfortunately ended.”
Lim Seong-jae, who has been in the top ranks until the second round, competes for the championship from the first competition in the new year.
Im Seong-jae showed confidence that “Now there are 3-4 rounds left, but if you maintain the same shot feeling as the previous round and only putt in well, it will be enough to aim for the top ranks.”
Dustin Johnson (USA), the world’s No. 1 player, who was tied at 30th place on the first day, jumped to 10th place by showing the power of reducing 8 strokes with 8 birdies without seeing it in the second round.
‘Long hitter’ Bryson DeChambo (USA) also reduced six strokes that day and tied for 10th place with Jon Lam (Spain).