Im Sungjae 'Breaks Out of Slump'... "Drives 5-Under Par Surge"

'Special Tournament' Travelers Championship 1R 8th Place
McCarthy Leads, Scott 2nd, Scheffler 4th
Kim Seonghyun 16th, 'Hole-in-One' McIlroy 46th

Im Sung-jae is the flagship of Korean men's golf.

He was the first Asian player to win the Rookie of the Year award on the PGA Tour and is doing well with two career wins. His world ranking is also the highest among Korean players at 22nd. However, Im Sung-jae has underperformed over the past month. Since finishing tied for 8th at the Wells Fargo Championship, which ended on the 8th of last month, he has struggled in four tournaments. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship, the US Open, and the Charles Schwab Challenge. In the Memorial Tournament, where he made the cut once, he finished tied for 41st. For over a month, he has not placed within the top 40 even once.

Im Sung-jae is walking on the 14th hole during the first round of the Travelers Championship.
[Cromwell, USA=Photo by AFP and Yonhap News]

Im Sung-jae has begun to spread his wings for a comeback. On the 22nd (local time), at the Travelers Championship (total prize money $20 million) held at TPC River Highlands (par 70, 6,852 yards) in Cromwell, Connecticut, USA, he shot a 5-under 65 in the first round to tie for 8th place. Im recorded one eagle, five birdies, and two bogeys. His play around and on the greens went well. Although he missed six greens, he limited bogeys to two, and his strokes gained putting was 3.162.

Denny McCarthy (USA) took the lead by two strokes with 10 birdies and no bogeys. He posted a 60, just one stroke shy of the "dream 59," securing his first career win opportunity. McCarthy had previously lost the Memorial Tournament in a playoff after a heartbreaking bogey on the 18th hole of the fourth round, surrendering the trophy to Viktor Hovland (Norway). Adam Scott (Australia) and Keegan Bradley tied for 2nd place (8-under 62), while world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (USA) is in 4th place (7-under 63).

Korea's Kim Sung-hyun started solidly, tied for 16th place (4-under 66). Kim Joo-hyung, who finished tied for 8th at last week's US Open, was tied for 68th (1-under 69), along with Lee Kyung-hoon. World No. 3 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) enjoyed the thrill of a hole-in-one on the 8th hole (par 3). His tee shot with a 5-iron from 214 yards was swallowed by the hole. It was his first hole-in-one on the PGA Tour. McIlroy finished the first round tied for 46th (2-under 68).

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