Im Sungjae's Excitement "Tied 4th, 7 Strokes Behind"... Sink Leads by 5 Strokes

RBC Heritage Day 2: 6 Under Par, Kwon Seung-Yul 2nd, Grillo 3rd, 'Number 1' Johnson Tied 19th

Im Sung-jae (left) is discussing strategy with his caddie at the 8th hole on the second day of the RBC Heritage. Hilton Head (South Carolina, USA) = Getty Images / Multibits

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] It is the excitement of Im Sung-jae (23·CJ Logistics).

On the 17th (Korean time), at the Hilton Head Harbour Town Golf Links in South Carolina, USA (par 71, 7,121 yards), during the second day of the PGA Tour RBC Heritage (total prize money $7.1 million), he shot 6 under par to leap to a tie for 4th place (9 under par, 133 strokes). Stewart Cink (USA) leads (16 under par, 126 strokes), Corey Conners (Canada) is 2nd (11 under par, 131 strokes), and Emiliano Grillo (Argentina) is 3rd (10 under par, 132 strokes).

Starting from a tie for 17th place, 6 strokes behind, Im Sung-jae recorded 1 eagle, 6 birdies, and 2 bogeys. Although he started shakily with a bogey on the 15th hole (par 5), he swept 3 consecutive birdies from the 16th to 18th holes. In the back nine, he improved his ranking with an eagle on the 2nd hole (par 5) followed by consecutive birdies on the 5th and 6th holes. A bogey on the 7th hole (par 3) was recovered with a birdie on the 9th hole (par 4), ending the round on a positive note and looking forward to the third round. His precise shots stood out with a fairway hit rate of 78.57% and a greens in regulation rate of 77.78%.

His average putts per hole were 1.50. Although the gap with the leader widened to 7 strokes, he was only 2 strokes behind the 2nd place. Cink demonstrated extraordinary power by reducing 8 strokes for two consecutive days, dominating the top of the leaderboard. He boasted perfect play with 1 eagle and 6 birdies. A veteran with 7 PGA Tour wins in total, he led by 5 strokes, seizing the opportunity for his second win of the 2021 season after 7 months since the Safeway Open last September.

Australian Cameron Smith, who was the leader the previous day, faltered by exchanging 3 birdies for 3 bogeys and is tied for 4th place. ‘Dell Technologies Match Play Champion’ Billy Horschel and Masters runner-up Will Zalatoris (both USA) are tied for 11th place (7 under par, 135 strokes). ‘Number 1’ Dustin Johnson (USA) added 4 under par to rise to a tie for 19th place (5 under par, 137 strokes). Defending champion Webb Simpson (USA) is tied for 40th place (3 under par, 139 strokes).

From Korea, Kang Sung-hoon (34·CJ Logistics) reduced 3 strokes with 5 birdies and 2 bogeys. He is tied for 16th place (6 under par, 136 strokes), looking to move up the ranks. ‘American Express Champion’ Kim Si-woo (26) is tied for 31st place (4 under par, 138 strokes), and Lee Kyung-hoon (30·CJ Logistics) is tied for 54th place (2 under par, 140 strokes), advancing to the final round. On the other hand, An Byeong-hoon (30·CJ Logistics) is tied for 66th place (1 under par, 141 strokes), and ‘Tank’ Choi Kyung-ju (51·SK Telecom) missed the cut, tied for 112th place (4 over par, 146 strokes).

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