Sungjae Im shoots a 65, leads by one at the American Express

Golf roundup: Sungjae Im shoots a 65 for one-stroke lead in La Quinta

Sungjae Im hits from the sixth tee during the second round of The American Express golf tournament Jan. 22, 2021.

Jan. 22, 2021 5:18 PM PT

Sungjae Im shot a seven-under-par 65 on Friday at the American Express to take a one-stroke lead over first-round leader Brandon Hagy and four others.

Im, the 22-year-old South Korean who was the PGA Tour’s rookie of the year in 2019, had seven birdies in the bogey-free round on the Stadium Course at PGA West in La Quinta, highlighted by three in four holes around the turn.

Hagy was in position to join Im at 11 under, but he bogeyed his final hole with a tee shot into the fairway bunker to finish his 70.

Canada’s Nick Taylor (66), South Korea’s Si Woo Kim (68), Tony Finau (66) and Mexico’s Abraham Ancer (65) also were 10 under. Emiliano Grillo (66), Francesco Molinari (66) and Doug Ghim (68) were two shots off the lead.

The leaderboard was crowded with low scores as usual at the Palm Springs-area tournament long hosted by Bob Hope. Im, Taylor and Ancer were among 12 players who didn’t make a bogey Friday.

After splitting the first two rounds over two courses, the players will all play the once-feared Stadium Course for the final two rounds.

Tournament host Phil Mickelson made 18 pars for the first time in his 2,201 rounds of PGA Tour play. The 50-year-old missed the cut at two over.

With his drives looking sharp and his mid-range putts dropping regularly, Im is off to another strong start at a tournament in which he has already finished 10th and 12th in his short PGA Tour career.

“I’m pretty satisfied with how I played all of my shots,” said Im, who believes his putting has improved sharply this year. “Speaking of putting, I started drawing a line on the ball as I visualize my putts, and that seemed to work pretty well today.”

Im also believes he might have an edge because didn’t travel home to South Korea during the holiday break because of the mandatory coronavirus quarantine required. Instead, he stayed in the house he recently purchased in Atlanta and practiced for the new season.

Hagy made 10 birdies in his opening round but got off to a rough start Friday on the Stadium Course with two early bogeys. He rallied with birdies on his 16th and 17th holes, but his errant drive on his final hole kept him one shot off the pace.

Taylor, who also led the Sony Open after two rounds last week, shot a 66 with six birdies on the Stadium Course. He had three straight birdies on the back nine of his bogey-free round, including a 24-foot birdie putt on the 15th and an 18-footer on the island green at the 17th.

Taylor appears to be rounding into impressive form as he prepares to defend his Pebble Beach title in three weeks.

“My game feels really good right now, so hopefully it keeps peaking,” he said. “It was a lot of intimidating tee shots, iron shots into greens. I feel like I missed in the right places. I drove it really nice on the par-fives and gave myself pretty easy looks on a few of them.”

Danielle Kang leads by two in LPGA Tour opener

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Danielle Kang continued to sail along at the LPGA Tour’s season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, shooting a six-under 65 to stretch her lead to two strokes.

A five-time LPGA Tour winner ranked fifth in the world, Kang had a 13-under 129 total at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club Orlando. She has yet to make a bogey.

Nelly Korda, at No. 4 the top-ranked player in the 25-woman, winners-only field, was second after a 66.

In Gee Chun and defending champion Gaby Lopez were four strokes back at nine under. Chun, a two-time major champion, matched Kang for the best score of the day with a 65. The South Korean player had a triple-bogey seven on the sixth hole Thursday in an opening 68.

Lopez shot a 68. The Mexican player won last year in a seven-hole playoff.