Sungjae Im "Tied 14th, 3 Shots Behind"... Defending Champion DeChambeau 'Cut Off'

Rocket Mortgage Classic Day 2: 4-Under Par Performance, Lewis and Niemann Tied for Lead, Homa and Kirk Tied for 3rd, Kim Siwoo Tied for 34th

Sungjae Im posted a 4-under par on the second day of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, joining the race for the championship.

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] Im Sung-jae (23, CJ Logistics) shows strong performance.

On the 3rd (Korean time) at Detroit Golf Club in Michigan, USA (par 72, 7,370 yards), during the second day of the PGA Tour Rocket Mortgage Classic (total prize money $7.5 million), he shot 4 under par to rise to a tie for 14th place (7 under par, 137 strokes). Tom Lewis (England) and Joaquin Niemann (Chile) both reduced their scores by 3 strokes to share the lead (10 under par, 134 strokes), while Max Homa, Chris Kirk, and Troy Merritt (all USA) are tied for 3rd place (9 under par, 135 strokes).

Starting from a tie for 36th place, 6 strokes behind, Im Sung-jae recorded 7 birdies and 3 bogeys. He started steadily with 4 birdies and 2 bogeys on the front nine, including 3 consecutive birdies, reducing his score by 2 strokes. On the back nine, after a birdie on the 14th hole (par 5) was canceled out by a birdie on the 16th hole (par 4), he showed a fierce finishing strength with consecutive birdies on the 17th and 18th holes. His ‘needle-like iron shots’ with a green hit rate of 83.33% were the driving force. He is 3 strokes behind the joint leaders, a position from which a comeback is definitely possible.

Homa joined the victory race by collecting 7 birdies without any bogeys. He is a player with 2 PGA Tour wins in total. David Thompson (USA), who was the leader the previous day, lost 1 stroke and dropped to a tie for 6th place (8 under par, 136 strokes). ‘Twist swing’ Matthew Wolff is tied for 14th, Ricky Fowler is tied for 34th (5 under par, 139 strokes), and ‘oldest major champion’ Phil Mickelson and long hitter Bubba Watson (both USA) are tied for 63rd place (3 under par, 141 strokes).

From Korea, Kim Si-woo (26, CJ Logistics) held steady with an even par, tied for 34th place. Kang Sung-hoon (34) and An Byeong-hoon (30, both CJ Logistics) advanced to the final round tied for 63rd place. On the other hand, Lee Kyung-hoon (30, CJ Logistics) tied for 78th place (2 under par, 142 strokes) and Choi Kyung-ju (51, SK Telecom) tied for 121st place (1 over par, 145 strokes) failed to advance to the third round. Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau (USA), who changed his caddie just before the tournament, was cut off, tied for 98th place (1 under par, 143 strokes).

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