Sungjae Im made three birdies on the back nine and squeaked in front halfway through the Truist Championship on Friday in Charlotte.
Im posted a steady 2-under-par 69 at Quail Hollow Club to get to 9-under 133 and earn a one-shot edge over Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, who posted his second straight 67. Justin Thomas and Englishman Alex Fitzpatrick are tied for third at 7 under after posting matching 68s.
The native of South Korea is vying for the biggest victory of his career. He’s won twice on the PGA Tour, but not since October 2021, and last won on the Korean Tour in 2024.
“I know this course very well,” said Im, who competed in the Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow in 2022. “I’ve had a lot of experience here and finished with good results here. So I think that’s an advantage for me. I know the holes to make birdies and those I need to make pars, and that’s the reason why I’m playing so well and the score is showing it.”
The first round of the $20 million, no-cut signature event was interrupted by inclement weather late Thursday and 20 golfers completed the round Friday morning. Im had just made an eagle to get to 7 under before he ran out of time, and he wrapped his round Friday with two pars.
He followed that with nine straight pars to open Round 2 before birdieing No. 10 and bogeying No. 12. Him matched then-leader Matt McCarty at 8 under by birdieing the short par-4 14th and touched 9 under with a well-played birdie at the par-5 15th.
Im said he is back from a wrist injury and feeling “100 percent” as he gears up for next week’s PGA Championship.
“I haven’t been playing very well coming into this tournament because of my wrist injury,” he said. “But I’m happy with how my game is progressing and the way I’m striking the ball. And I’m happy with where I’m at at the moment and I want to keep this going for two more days and hopefully I’ll have a very good finish.”
Fleetwood plotted his way around the course and scraped together five birdies to offset one bogey, capped by a perfect tee shot at the difficult par-3 17th that landed inside 5 feet of the pin.
“Today didn’t feel like I swung it as well,” Fleetwood said. “Definitely didn’t have my rhythm, got ahead of a few shots. But I didn’t hit it in any terrible spots and I felt I scored very well. Those are the positives to take. I’ve definitely hit enough good shots, but today I didn’t quite have it, but still managed to get a good score out of it.”
Fitzpatrick is nine strokes ahead of older brother and World No. 3 Matt Fitzpatrick (70 Friday, 2 over for the event). Alex Fitzpatrick received his PGA Tour card and exemptions into the remaining signature events when he and his brother won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event last month.
Tied for fifth at 6 under are David Lipsky (69), Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan (70) and Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard (70).
Matt McCarty went from a 63 to set the first-round lead to a 3-over 74 Friday to drop to 5 under. He’s tied with Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, who improved by three shots from Thursday with a second-round 67; Harris English, who shot 69; and Rickie Fowler, who posted the round of the day with an 8-under 63 featuring nine birdies.
Fowler, who improved on his first-day score by 11 shots, said he’s “in a good spot with the game, body’s in a better spot than it was last year, and just kind of continuing to build off of that. Seeing plenty of good things and finally starting to build more momentum and more confidence.”
–Field Level Media
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