Korean star Sungjae Im brilliantly birdied his closing hole in near darkness for tied fourth place to lie two strokes back of co-leaders Ludvig Åberg and Lanto Griffin after a wind-swept second round at the Farmers Insurance Open on Thursday.
The two-time PGA TOUR winner battled to a 1-under 71 at the North Course at Torrey Pines in San Diego, California, and was delighted he could now enjoy a sleep-in ahead of the third round after 29 players failed to complete their 18 holes.
“It was a nice way to finish my round in near darkness with a birdie at the last hole (on No. 9),” said the 26-year-old Im, who holds two top 10s (T4/2023, T6/2022) in six previous starts at the US$9.3 million showpiece.
“It’ll also be nice to sleep in a bit tomorrow morning instead of having to come back to complete the second round due to the suspension.”
Fierce coastal winds, with gusts exceeding 48kph at times, forced an 86-minute suspension midway through Thursday, and sent scores soaring. Åberg, the overnight leader after a 63 on the North Course, was 12 shots worse on the South Course on Thursday as he was caught on 6-under by Griffin, who fought to a 72, also on the South Course. Round two will resume at 7.30am Saturday with the third round beginning between 9.30am-11.30am local time.
Im, whose last victory on TOUR was at the 2021 Shriners Children’s Open, birdied two of his opening three holes before dropping two shots in quick succession. He steadied the ship and finished strongly with three birdies over his last five to give himself a chance of ending his PGA TOUR title drought.
“Conditions were challenging with the winds and I managed to keep control of the golf ball and keep it in play at most times. Getting those three birdies in my last five holes was good as I’m now only a few shots behind the leaders,” he said.
“I’ve always enjoyed playing at Torrey Pines as it’s a good test of golf and I look forward to the final two rounds (on the South Course) and hopefully staying on the leaderboard to challenge for the tournament.”
Countryman K.H. Lee ensured he would make his first cut at the Farmers Insurance Open following a battling 76 to sit in tied 26th position on 1-under. He had missed the cut in his first four starts at Torrey Pines.
After dropping five shots over a five-hole stretch in mid-round, Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama, winner of the season-opening The Sentry earlier this month, birdied his last two holes on the North Course and will enter the final two days on 1-under, six shots off the pace.
PARTIAL Second-Round Leaderboard
Pos. Player R1 R2 Total
T1 Lanto Griffin 66 NC 72 SC 138 (-6)
T1 Ludvig Åberg 63 NC 75 SC 138 (-6)
3 Danny Walker 65 SC 74 NC 139 (-5)
T4 Hayden Springer 65 NC 75 SC 140 (-4)
T4 Chris Gotterup 71 SC 69 NC 140 (-4)
T4 Sungjae Im 69 SC 71 NC 140 (-4)
Lanto Griffin (T1/-6)
Ludvig Åberg (T1/-6)
Additional player notes
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