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| Lim Seong-jae is taking a shot in the second round of the Honda Classic on the 20th (Korean time) PGA Tour. © AFP=News1 |
‘Defending Champion’ Im Seong-jae (23, CJ Logistics) cruised with two strokes down on the second day of the US Professional Golf (PGA) Tour Honda Classic ($7 million in total prize money).
In the second round of the tournament held at the PGA National Champion Course (par 70, 7125 yards) in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA on the 20th (Korean time), Lim Sung-jae tied 4 birdies and 2 bogies to write 2 under par 68 strokes.
Lim Sung-jae, who hit 68 for two consecutive days, was tied for 16th with 136 strokes in the middle of the 4 under par. It is 8 shots from Aaron Wise (US 12-under-par 128 shots), who took the lead.
Lim Seong-jae participated in this tournament as a top ranker, raising expectations for a second straight victory. In the first and second rounds, he couldn’t reduce his number of strokes, but he is showing off his stable performance. Since it is a competition held on a course with high difficulty, it is possible to close the gap with the leader in future rounds.
Im Seong-jae, who started from hole 10 (par 4), faltered while violating the bogie in hole 12 (par 4). And he fell into the bunker twice in the 16th hole (par 4), one of the notorious “bear traps,” and ended up seeing it.
Im Seong-jae, who was stagnating, made a successful birdie and changed the mood by attaching the third shot from the 18th hole (par 5) to about 0.4m in the hole cup.
Lim Seong-jae started to gain strength in the second half of the round. He entered the under-par score by catching a birdie in a row on the 3rd hole (par 5) and the 4th hole (par 4). And in the last hole 9 (par 4), he added a birdie and finished the second round happily.
Except for Lim Seong-jae, all other Korean players left the cut and left a regret. Ahn Byung-hoon (30, CJ Logistics) and Roh Seung-yeol (30, Isu Group) had a middle total of 2 over par 142, Choi Gyeong-ju (51, SK Telecom) and Lee Gyeong-hoon (30, CJ Korea Express) had a 5-over par 145, and Kang Sung-hoon (34). CJ Logistics) only hit 12 over par with 152 strokes.