‘Bear’s trap’ exposed claws… Im Seong-jae couldn’t avoid it either.

Lim Seong-jae is answering the gallery's support after catching a birdie in the 3rd hole of the 3rd round.  [AFP = 연합뉴스]

picture explanationLim Seong-jae is answering the gallery’s support after catching a birdie in the 3rd hole of the 3rd round. [AFP = 연합뉴스]

The’Bear Trap’ showing its claws was terrifying. Even the top golfers were in a hurry to pass save in the’Bear Trap,’ which was added to the power of strong winds. Buddy rarely appeared, and bogie and double bogie poured out. The U.S. Professional Golf (PGA) tour website expressed that’Bear Trap woke up from hibernation’.

On the 21st (Korean time), the 3rd round 17th hole (par 3) held at the PGA National Golf Club (par 70, 7125 yards) in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA.

In the last hole of the notorious’Bear Trap (holes 15~17), Seongjae Lim’s tee shot went into the bunker next to the green. The greatest crisis came to Lim Seong-jae, who was cruising by reducing three strokes before this hole. However, in the situation of the second shot, Lim Seong-jae escaped the bunker by aiming at the wrong direction. In the end, Lim Seong-jae, who also went into the rough for the second shot, hit the green after the third shot, but lost two strokes at once because the bogie putt was also unsuccessful. After the game, Lim Seong-jae said, “If I hit the green, I would fall into the water 100% (behind the green), so I tried to prevent it with a safe look by laying up, but unfortunately, a double bogie came out.”

Im Sung-jae, who recorded 4 birdies, 1 bogie, and 1 double bogie, only cut one stroke, but raised the rank by 9 places from 16th to 7th with a total of 205 strokes under the par of 5 under the previous day. This is the result of playing so difficult that only 19 out of 68 people who passed the cut recorded an under par.

Im Seong-jae, who is chasing leader Matt Jones (Australia, 10 under par 200 strokes) by five strokes, said, “I hope the wind blows so strongly tomorrow. That’s why everyone will play a difficult game.” Did. “I think if we can play well tomorrow, we can compete for the lead enough,” he said.

On this day, Bear Trap played a great role as a’trap’. In the 15th hole, which is a short par 3 of 154 yards, players who missed the ball with a hazard appeared one after another, and there were no birdies in the 16th hole of the par 4. The 17th hole, which caught Im Seong-jae’s ankle, was notorious enough to allow only one buddy.

The total number of birdies that came out of the three bear trap holes was nine. Although there were 8 birdies in the 15th hole, there were 10 double bogies, rather 2 more. On this day, the 17th hole was played the hardest among the 18 holes. Hole 15 boasted the 3rd, and hole 16 boasted the 4th difficulty.

It was the bear trap that changed the leading face. In the second round, Aaron Wise (USA) stepped down from the lead by following one after another on holes 15 and 17, while Matt Jones, who was second place, took the lead by finishing all three holes in the bear trap with par. Wise lost five strokes on this day alone, but the other players’ performances were also poor, so the ranking went down one place to a tie for second place (seven under par, 203 strokes). Long hitter JB Holmes (USA) is also aiming for a reversal in a tie for second place.

Jones, who saved par without hitting all the balls on the green in all three holes, said, “That (bear trap) is not a birdie hole. It’s a hole that shouldn’t make a big mistake. I managed to play a par, and that was great. “He said.

[오태식 스포츠선임기자]
[ⓒ 매일경제 & mk.co.kr, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]

Source