Sungjae Im 4-Under Par "Smooth Start"

Rocket Mortgage Classic 1R Tied 25th, 4 Strokes Behind
Moore and Quest Tied for Lead, Justin Suh 3rd
Defending Champ Finau 107th, Kim Juhyung 123rd

Im Sung-jae had a steady start.

On the 29th (local time), he shot a 4-under-par 68 in the first round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic (total prize money $8.8 million) held at Detroit Golf Club (par 72, 7,370 yards) in Michigan, USA, placing him tied for 25th. Taylor Moore and Peter Kuest share the lead at 8-under-par 64, while seven players including Justin Suh and Sam Ryder (both from the USA) are tied for third place at 7-under-par 65, just one stroke behind.

Im Sung-jae raises his hand in response to the applause from the gallery after making a birdie on the 10th hole of the first round at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. [Detroit, USA = AFP·Yonhap News]

Im Sung-jae recorded six birdies and two bogeys. In the first eight holes, he exchanged two birdies for two bogeys, struggling to lower his score. However, he changed the momentum with back-to-back birdies on holes 9 and 10, then showed strong finishing power by adding consecutive birdies again on holes 16 and 17. His green in regulation rate of 77.78% and 1.64 putts per hole stood out. He is four strokes behind the co-leaders, still in a position to hope for a comeback victory.

Among the favorites, world No. 20 Collin Morikawa (USA) started smoothly, tied for 10th at 6-under-par 66. Rickie Fowler is tied for 14th at 5-under-par 67, while last week’s Travelers Championship winner Keegan Bradley and world No. 9 Max Homa (both USA) are tied for 39th at 3-under-par 69. Noh Seung-yul is tied for 83rd at 1-under-par 71, defending champion Tony Finau (USA) is tied for 107th at even par 72, and Kim Joo-hyung, Kim Sung-hyun, and An Byeong-hun are tied for 123rd at 1-over-par 73.

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