Im Sung-jae's Fierce Effort "Tied 11th"... Hoblyn 'Leading for Third Day'

Im Sung-jae Performs Well at Hero World Challenge Day 3 with 2-Under Par
Hovland Leads by 3 Shots, Scheffler in 2nd, Thomas and Young Tied for 3rd
Morikawa and Schauffele Tied for 5th, Rahm in 7th Position

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] It is the spirited effort of Im Sung-jae (photo), ranked 21st in the world.

On the 3rd (local time), Im Sung-jae shot 2-under par on the third day of the Hero World Challenge (total prize money $3.5 million) held at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas (par 72, 7,414 yards), rising to a tie for 11th place (1-under par 215). This tournament is hosted by the 'Golf Emperor' Tiger Woods (USA). Although it is not an official PGA Tour event, it is a special event with a winner's prize of $1 million (1.3 billion KRW) and world ranking points.

Starting from a tie for 13th place, 6 strokes behind, Im Sung-jae recorded 6 birdies and 4 bogeys. He made 'stepping stone birdies' on holes 1 and 3 but lost ground with consecutive bogeys on holes 4 and 5. After changing the momentum with a birdie on the 6th hole (par 5), he caught the excitement again with 'stepping stone birdies' on holes 9 and 11. However, Im Sung-jae made bogeys on holes 15 and 17, settling for an under-par score. His fairway hit rate of 84.62% was outstanding.

Defending champion Viktor Hovland (Norway) surged with an 8-under par round, maintaining the top of the leaderboard for the third consecutive day (13-under par 203). He swept up 10 birdies (2 bogeys), including three sets of three consecutive birdies. Leading by 3 strokes, he is aiming for back-to-back victories. Hovland, ranked 12th in the world, is known to domestic fans as the 'Taekwondo Boy' due to his black belt in Taekwondo. In February 2020, he won the Puerto Rico Open, marking a milestone as the 'first Norwegian PGA champion.'

World No. 2 Scottie Scheffler (USA) posted a 6-under par round to jump to 2nd place (10-under par 206). Justin Thomas (USA) also reduced 6 strokes and is looking for an opportunity from a tie for 3rd place (8-under par 208). Cameron Young is tied for 3rd, Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele (both USA) are tied for 5th (7-under par 209), and Jon Rahm (Spain) is in 7th place (4-under par 212). World No. 15 Kim Joo-hyung recorded 1 birdie and 3 bogeys, tied for 11th place.