5 Under Par Surge in WM Phoenix Open Round 2
Detry Leads, Michael Kim and Smalley Tied for Second
Scheffler in 12th, Im Sungjae and An Byeonhun Tied for 34th
Kim Joo-hyung continued his smooth progress.
Kim Juhyung is celebrating after making a birdie on the 16th hole of the second round at the WM Phoenix Open. Scottsdale=Photo by AFP·Yonhap News
On the 7th (local time), at TPC Scottsdale (par 71, 7,261 yards) in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, during the second round of the PGA Tour WM Phoenix Open (total prize money $9.2 million), he made six birdies and one bogey. He stood tied for 4th place (9 under par, 133 strokes) alongside Jordan Spieth (USA) and Christiaan Bezuidenhout (South Africa).
Rising six spots from a tie for 10th place the previous day, Kim Joo-hyung is three strokes behind the leader. After finishing tied for 7th at last week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, he is showing prospects of consecutive top finishes in two tournaments. In a post-round interview, Kim expressed satisfaction, saying, "I played quite well following the strategy over the two days," and added, "My tee shots were consistently good, and my putting was also solid."
Thomas Detry (Belgium) took the top spot on the leaderboard with 12 under par (130 strokes). Michael Kim (USA) and Alex Smalley (USA) are tied for 2nd place, two strokes behind (10 under par, 132 strokes). World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (USA), who played alongside Kim Joo-hyung, finished the second round tied for 12th place (7 under par, 135 strokes). Scheffler won this tournament in 2022 and 2023.
Among the 130 players participating in this tournament, eight players were unable to complete the second round due to sunset. Im Sung-jae and An Byeong-hun are tied for 34th place (4 under par, 138 strokes), while Kim Si-woo and Lee Kyung-hoon are tied for 62nd place (2 under par, 140 strokes). It is currently expected that players up to 2 under par will advance to the third round.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
