Sungjae Im "2-Under Par Warm-Up~"... Jones "Surprising 9-Under Par Spurt"

Honda Classic Title Defense Tied 15th on First Day, Wise and Henry Tied 2nd, Westwood Tied 43rd

Im Sung-jae is examining the putting line on the 15th hole on the first day of the Honda Classic. Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA = Getty Images / Multibits

[Asia Economy Golf Specialist Reporter Kim Hyun-jun] "2-under-par tied for 15th."

This is the first-day result of Im Sung-jae (23, CJ Logistics), ranked 18th in the world, defending his title. On the 19th (Korean time) at the Honda Classic (total prize money $7 million) held at PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA (par 70, 6,966 yards), he recorded 4 birdies and 2 bogeys in the first round. Last year, he achieved his first win on the PGA Tour, and this year he is aiming for back-to-back victories for the first time in 43 years since Jack Nicklaus (USA, 1977-1978).

Im opened the scoring with a birdie on the 2nd hole (par 5), had consecutive bogeys on the 4th and 5th holes, but recovered with consecutive birdies on the 9th and 10th holes. Most notably, he maintained his score at the PGA National’s toughest stretch, holes 15 to 17, known as the ‘Bear Trap.’ Although his tee shots landed in the greenside bunker twice on the 15th and 17th holes, he successfully saved par with brilliant short game shots. He added a pleasant birdie on the final 18th hole (par 5).

Matt Jones (Australia) leads with 9-under-par. He won his only PGA Tour title at the 2014 Shell Houston Open and is challenging for his second PGA Tour win in seven years. Starting in the relatively calm morning group, he swept up 9 birdies. His 9-under-par 61 ties the course record set by Brian Harman (USA) on the second day in 2012. Aaron Wise and Russell Henley (both USA) are chasing in a tie for second place, 3 strokes behind at 6-under-par 64.

The ‘48-year-old veteran’ Lee Westwood (England) is tied for 43rd at even par. He is frustrated after finishing runner-up in back-to-back weeks, suffering come-from-behind losses at the Arnold Palmer Invitational that ended on the 8th and The Players Championship on the 15th. From Korea, Noh Seung-yeol (30) joined the tie for 43rd, Ahn Byung-hoon (30) and Lee Kyung-hoon (30, both CJ Logistics) are tied for 82nd at 2-over-par, Choi Kyung-joo (51, SK Telecom) is tied for 96th at 3-over-par, and Kang Sung-hoon (34) is tied for 125th at 6-over-par.