Sungjae Im Advances to Victory... "5-Under Par Tied for 5th Place"

Im Sung-jae is on a winning streak.

Sungjae Im started the first round of the RBC Heritage with a 5-under-par, beginning tied for 5th place, two strokes behind the leader.

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On the 13th (local time), Im Sung-jae shot a 5-under-par 66 in the first round of the PGA Tour RBC Heritage (total prize money $20 million) held at Harbour Town Golf Links (par 71, 7,191 yards) in Hilton Head, South Carolina, USA, placing him in a tie for 5th. Due to sunset, some players were unable to complete their rounds. The RBC Heritage is one of the 17 “premier events” designated by the PGA Tour for the 2022/2023 season. The total prize money was increased by a whopping $12 million.

Im Sung-jae made six birdies and one bogey. After a bogey on the 11th hole, he immediately recovered with a birdie on the 12th hole (both par 4s), then added another birdie on the 15th hole (par 5), reducing his score by one stroke in the front nine. In the back nine, he showed fierce stamina with a birdie on the 5th hole (par 5) and a streak of three consecutive birdies from the 7th to the 9th holes. He relied on his “pinpoint iron shots” with a green hit rate of 83.33%. He is two strokes behind the leader and has a chance to erase the disappointment of finishing tied for 16th at last week’s season-opening major, the Masters.

Viktor Hovland (Norway) took the top spot on the leaderboard with a perfect round of seven birdies and no bogeys, shooting 7-under-par 64. Brian Harman and Jimmy Walker (both USA), and Aaron Rai (England) are tied for 2nd at 6-under-par. World No. 2 Scottie Scheffler is tied for 15th at 3-under-par 68, Kim Si-woo is tied for 47th at 1-under-par 70, and Kim Joo-hyung and Lee Kyung-hoon are tied for 75th at even par 71. Masters champion and world No. 1 Jon Rahm (Spain) is tied for 92nd at 1-over-par 72.

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