South Korea’s Sungjae Im believes he is still very much in the title hunt at the Masters Tournament on Friday despite a rough finish that left him five strokes back of 36-hole leader Justin Rose.

The two-time PGA TOUR winner brilliantly charged up the leaderboard in the second round by sinking five birdies through 12 holes before getting stung by Augusta National’s intricacies where he dropped three bogeys over his last four holes for a 2-under 70.

With his 3-under total, Im, who was runner-up in 2020 and T8 in 2022 at the Masters, will enter the weekend in tied 12^th place alongside 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, who produced a fine 68 to move into contention for a second green jacket.

“Overall I had good round, so I did pretty good with my shots, just the last couple holes, 15 and 16, I made bogeys. Except for that, I am pretty satisfied,” said the 27-year-old Im, who has two top-5s on TOUR this season.

Im was in full control of his game for much of the day, rolling home birdie putts inside of 10 feet on Hole Nos. 1, 2 and 8, before spinning back an approach shot to a foot on the ninth hole. The Asian star who is nicknamed Ironman Im then produced a fifth birdie on the par-3 12^th hole from 15 feet before his round unraveled.

On the par-5 15^th hole, Im’s chip fell short of the green and trickled back into the watery grave, and he later three-putted from 73 feet on the 16^th hole before dropping a third bogey at the last after blocking his drive into the trees, only one of three missed drives which proved costly.

“I think No. 9. I got the tap-in birdie …. that’s my best shot I’d say today. Overall, I am feeling good with my game, so it’s pretty good,” said Im, who hit 14 greens in regulation on Friday. “This course, they don’t allow you to have much mistakes, so I tried not to make much mistakes, tried to keep a low score. That’s what I tried to do.”

Two other Koreans in the elite field, Byeong Hun An and Tom Kim, safely made it into the weekend rounds with An shooting a 71 for T37 and Kim signing for a second successive 73 to make the cut right on the number.

After finishing T16 and T30 in his first two appearance at the Masters, the 22-year-old Kim, a three-time TOUR winner, hopes to make his move on Saturday and give himself a chance to post a high finish. “I’m excited to be in the weekend. Hopefully I’m going to be first off tomorrow so hopefully I can just go out and post a good number and have late tee time on the weekend,” said Kim.

He made just one birdie against two bogeys, saying the swirling winds around the property provided a stern test to the players who finished their rounds late in the day. “It played really difficult. The wind was starting to blow, and the hardest part about Augusta National, it is not consistent. It changes all over the place. Playing Amen Corner was really, really difficult. Hit a perfect 5-iron that is almost impossible to be short and I was 10 yards short the hole and had to hit an 8-iron perfectly on the green. Played difficult, especially the last holes coming in. Like on 17 I just couldn’t hit the green. You know, it was left to right downwind, left to right, downwind, just going all over the place. So played really tough, but I’m glad I’m playing the weekend,” he said.

Second-Round Notes – Friday, April 11, 2025 

Friday weather: Partly cloudy. High of 70. Wind W 14-18 mph, gusting to 27 mph.

Cut: 53 professionals at 2-over 146 from a field of 90 professionals and five amateurs

Second-Round Leaderboard

Pos.        Player                                    R1           R2           Total

1              Justin Rose                            65            71            136 (-8)

2              Bryson DeChambeau          69            68            137 (-7)

T3            Rory McIlroy                         72            66            138 (-6)

T3            Corey Conners                      68            70            138 (-6)

Justin Rose (1^st/-8)

• Englishman holds the 36-hole lead/co-lead at the Masters Tournament for the third time (2004/T22, 2021/T7); holds the second-round lead/co-lead on the PGA TOUR for the 17^th time; 4-for-16 to date
• Holds lead/co-lead after any round at the Masters for the 10^th time, joining Raymond Floyd (10) and Tiger Woods (10); only three players have held more leads/co-leads after any round at the Masters: Jack Nicklaus (19), Arnold Palmer (18), Gary Player (12)
• Three of 15 second-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win on the PGA TOUR this season, most recently Brian Harman, at last week’s Valero Texas Open
• Making his 20^th Masters appearance, owns six top-10s in 19 prior starts; was T2 to Jordan Spieth in 2015 and lost a playoff to Sergio Garcia in 2017
• Two top-10s in six PGA TOUR starts this season, both coming in Signature Events (T3/AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, T8/Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard)
• With a victory by Rose, England would join South Africa (5) as the country with the second-most wins behind Spain (6) at the Masters

Miscellaneous Notes

• Eight different countries are represented among players T9 or better on the leaderboard
• Bryson DeChambeau (2^nd/-7) joins Xander Schauffele with the most rounds in the 60s at major championships since the start of 2024 (10); ranks No.1 in average driving distance this week (331.6 yards)
• Rory McIlroy (T3/-6) records his sixth round of 66 or lower at the Masters, tied most behind only Tiger Woods (8); carded two double bogeys in the first round (Nos. 15 and 17); only Craig Stadler (1982) and Gay Brewer (1967) went on to win the Masters Tournament after making two or more double bogeys for the week
• In 24 major championship starts, Corey Conners (T3/-6) owns four top-10s, including three at the Masters (T10/2020, T8/2021, T6/2022); also T9/2024 U.S. Open
• With a 4-under 68, Shane Lowry (T5/-5) matches his low round at the Masters Tournament for the fifth time (32 rounds)
• Scottie Scheffler (T5/-5) makes his first bogey of the tournament at the par-4 7^th hole; 24 bogey-free holes marks the second longest bogey-free streak to start the tournament by a defending champion (Ian Woosnam/27 holes/1992)
• Tyrrell Hatton (T5/-5) makes his seventh cut in nine starts at the Masters; 69-70 marks first time with back-to-back under par rounds in a Masters
• Matt McCarty (T5/-5), one of a record eight lefthanded invitees this week, began double bogey, bogey en route to a 4-under 68; in the last 22 years at the Masters, only three players have finished a round under par after being 3-over or higher through two holes: