Sungjae Im Starts with 2-Under Par... Homa and Mitchell Share the Lead
'Special Tournament' Genesis Invitational Round 1
‘Newlywed’ Im Sung-jae (photo) is off to a smooth start.
On the 16th (local time), Im Sung-jae shot 2-under-par 69 in the first round of the Genesis Invitational (total prize money $20 million) held at Riviera Country Club (par 71, 7,322 yards) in Palisades near Los Angeles, California, USA, placing him in a tie for 27th. Max Homa and Keith Mitchell (both from the USA) share the lead at 7-under-par 64, world No. 3 Jon Rahm (Spain) is in third place at 6-under-par 65, and three players including Collin Morikawa (USA) are tied for fourth at 5-under-par 66. Some players were unable to finish their rounds due to sunset.
Im Sung-jae recorded four birdies and two bogeys. After a birdie on the 11th hole (par 5) was canceled out by a bogey on the 12th hole (par 4), he added another birdie on the 14th hole (par 3). In the back nine, following a bogey on the 5th hole (par 4), he showed fierce resilience with consecutive birdies on the 8th and 9th holes. He relied on his long drives of up to 327 yards and an average of 1.636 putts per hole. He is five strokes behind the co-leaders. Im Sung-jae has been on an upward trend with back-to-back top 10 finishes, including a tie for 4th at the Farmers Insurance Open and a tie for 6th at the WM Phoenix Open.
World No. 2 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) delivered a perfect round with four birdies and no bogeys, tying for 7th place at 4-under-par 67. ‘Golf Emperor’ Tiger Woods (USA), returning to the field after seven months since The Open last July, started solidly with five birdies and three bogeys, tied for 27th. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (USA) is tied for 44th at 1-under-par 70.
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From Korea, rookie Kim Sung-hyun is tied for 44th, and world No. 15 Kim Joo-hyung is tied for 56th at even par 71. Kim Young-soo, who was invited after winning last year’s Korean Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour Genesis Championship, also joined the group tied for 56th. Lee Kyung-hoon is tied for 77th at 1-over-par 72, and Sony Open winner Kim Si-woo is struggling at tied 121st at 5-over-par 76.
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