Im Seong-jae (25), the ‘new groom’, competed for the championship with unchanging skills at the first PGA Tour event he participated in after getting married.
In the first round of the PGA Tour Sentry Tournament of Champions (total prize money of $15 million) held at the Plantation Course (par 73) in Kapalua, Maui Island, Hawaii on the 6th (Korean time), Lim Seong-jae picked out 7 birdies without bogey and scored 7 under par 66 hit it Colin Morikawa (USA), JJ Spun (USA), and John Rahm (Spain), who hit 9 under par 64 on this day alone, took the lead, and Lim Seong-jae was tied for 5th place by two strokes. Kim Joo-hyung (21), who recorded 8 under par and 65 strokes on the first day, is in fourth place alone.
On December 17 last year, Im Seong-jae made a 100-year marriage ceremony with Jae-won, who graduated from New York University in the United States, at Lotte Hotel Jamsil, Songpa-gu, Seoul.
Im Seong-jae, who went on a honeymoon to Hawaii after his marriage, prepared for this competition together.
Lim Seong-jae, who started from the 1st hole, marched par to the 4th hole and caught his first birdie on his 5th hole (par 5), raising the mood. He then took consecutive birdies on the 6th hole (par 4), and reduced one more stroke on the 9th hole (par 5) to hit 3 under par only in the first half.
Even in the second half, Lim Seong-jae’s unique accuracy stood out. On this day, the drive shot accuracy reached 93.3%, and the green hit rate was also sophisticated enough to maintain 94.4%.
Even in the second half, the birdie did not come out until after 4 holes, but after putting a tee shot on the green at the short 14th hole (par 4) at 283 yards, he started to reduce the number of strokes in earnest by adding a birdie lightly. In the 15th hole (par 5), he succeeded in 2-on and added a birdie, and again in the 17th (par 4) and 18th hole (par 5) he caught birdies in a row and finished the first round with a game without a look. 스포츠토토
Im Seong-jae said, “I had a good start today by hitting 7 under par in the first round,” and was satisfied with the results of the match, saying, “I feel good because I did well from the first tournament of the new year, and I feel good because I always get good results when I come to Hawaii.”
Lim Seong-jae, who jumped into the race to win the championship by two strokes from the lead, selected the second half drive as the winning strategy in the remaining games.
He said, “It’s windy, but the fairway is wider than other courses, so if you put your tee shot on the fairway well, I think you can create a chance.” Expected.
Im Seong-jae, who reported his first win on the PGA Tour at the Honda Classic in the 2020-2021 season, achieved two wins at the Shriners Children’s Open in the 2021-2022 season. Although he has not yet won a championship this season, he has competed in four tournaments and is showing steady results, including 7th at the Shriners Children’s Open and a tie for 8th at the Hero World Challenge. Prior to the opening of this tournament, PGA Tour.com ranked him sixth in the list of favorites to win, following Justin Thomas (USA). Last year, he tied for 8th in the event.