Sungjae Im 6 Under Par "Tied 5th, 5 Shots Behind"... Smith 'Two-Day Leader'

'Wangjungwangjeon' Century Tournament Day 2: Ram and Burger Tied for 2nd, Cantlay 4th, Kim Siwoo and Schauffele Tied for 8th

Im Sung-jae is making an iron shot on the 2nd hole of the second day of the Sentry Tournament. Hawaii, USA - Photo by Getty Images/Multibits

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] It is the winning race of ‘Shriners Champ’ Im Sung-jae (24, CJ Logistics).

On the 8th (Korean time), at the Kapalua Resort Plantation Golf Course (par 73, 7,596 yards) on Maui Island, Hawaii, USA, during the second day of the PGA Tour ‘Tournament of Champions’ Sentry Tournament (total prize money $8.2 million), Im fired a 6-under-par round to maintain a tie for 5th place (12-under-par 134). Cameron Smith (Australia) leads (17-under-par 129), with world No. 1 Jon Rahm (Spain) and Daniel Berger (USA) tied for 2nd place, 3 strokes behind (14-under-par 132).

Starting from a tie for 5th place, 2 strokes behind, Im collected six birdies. He was ‘quiet’ in the front nine with birdies on the 5th hole (par 5) and 8th hole (par 3), but showed strong finishing power with a birdie on the 13th hole (par 4), back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th holes, and another birdie on the final 18th hole (par 5). His ‘pinpoint iron shots’ with a green hit rate of 94.44% were the driving force. He is 5 strokes behind the leader, aiming for his second win of the season since the Shriners Children’s Open in November 2022.

Smith reduced his score by an impressive 9 strokes, maintaining the top of the leaderboard for two consecutive days. ‘PO Champ’ Patrick Cantlay (USA) is 4th (13-under-par 133), ‘Masters Champ’ Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) tied for 5th, ‘Tokyo Olympic Gold’ Xander Schauffele tied for 8th (10-under-par 136), ‘Hulk’ Bryson DeChambeau tied for 15th (9-under-par 137), world No. 2 Collin Morikawa tied for 22nd (8-under-par 138), and ‘Oldest Major Champ’ Phil Mickelson (all USA) tied for 30th (6-under-par 140).

Kim Si-woo is hitting an iron shot on the 2nd hole of the second day of the Sentry Tournament. Hawaii, USA = Getty Images / Multibits

Korea’s Kim Si-woo (27, CJ Logistics) started tied for 25th place, 6 strokes behind, and collected eight birdies. He is tied for 8th place. He reduced 4 strokes in the front nine with a birdie on the 1st hole (par 4), consecutive birdies on the 4th and 5th holes, and a birdie on the 7th hole (par 4). In the back nine, he finished strongly with four consecutive birdies from the 15th to the 18th holes. This is his chance for his 4th career win after one year since the American Express in January last year. Lee Kyoung-hoon (31, CJ Logistics) finished tied for 36th place (3-under-par 143), the lowest among 38 players in total.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.