Honda Classic Day 2: 4 Under Par, Westwood 2nd, Woodland 5th, Lee Kyung-hoon 24th
Im Sung-jae is checking the yardage book on the 7th hole during the second day of the Honda Classic. Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA = Getty Images / Multibits
[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] 'PGA Rookie of the Year' Im Sung-jae (22, CJ Logistics) is cruising smoothly.
On the 29th (Korean time), at the PGA National Golf Club (par 70, 7,125 yards) in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA, during the second day of the PGA Tour Honda Classic (total prize money $7 million), he shot 4 under par to rise to a tie for 9th place (2 under par, 138 strokes). Brendan Steele led (5 under par, 135 strokes), with J.T. Poston (both from the USA), Lee Westwood, and Luke Donald (both from England) tied for 2nd place, one stroke behind (4 under par, 136 strokes).
Starting from a tie for 63rd place, 6 strokes behind, Im Sung-jae recorded six birdies and two bogeys. Although he managed only 1 under par with three birdies and two bogeys over 14 holes, consecutive birdies on the 15th and 16th holes, followed by a birdie on the final 18th hole (par 5), set a positive tone for the third round. His precise shots stood out with a fairway hit rate of 64.29% and a greens in regulation rate of 72.22%. He averaged 1.692 putts per hole. He is three strokes behind the leader and, with two days remaining, is in a position to aim for his first career victory.
Donald shot 4 under par to join the race for the title, and 'US Open Champion' Gary Woodland (USA) reduced three strokes to climb to a tie for 5th place (3 under par, 137 strokes). Shane Lowry (Ireland) and Tommy Fleetwood (England) are tied for 9th place. Harris English (USA), who led the previous day, struggled with 4 over par and fell to a tie for 24th place (even par, 140 strokes). World No. 3 Brooks Koepka (USA) lost four strokes and is tied for 110th place (8 over par, 148 strokes), missing the cut.
From Korea, Lee Kyung-hoon (29, CJ Logistics) lost one stroke with three birdies, two bogeys, and one double bogey. His greens in regulation rate dropped to 61.11%, making it difficult to create birdie opportunities. He is tied for 24th place. An Byeong-hun (29, CJ Logistics) collected five birdies (one bogey) to successfully advance to the final round, tied for 44th place (2 over par, 142 strokes). On the other hand, Kim Si-woo (25, CJ Logistics) tied for 83rd place (5 over par, 145 strokes) and Noh Seung-yul (29) tied for 104th place (7 over par, 147 strokes), packing up early.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
