“I feel a bit more distance as my body loosens up from the 15th hole.”
The 18th hole (par 5) at the Ferrum Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi-do on the 10th. Lim Seong-jae (25), who started out on the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean tour for the first time in a year, hit the ball with a wedge at about 100m and landed on the left side of the hole, bouncing once before stopping. The remaining distance to the hole was about 3m, which was the best position to catch a birdie.
Before he got to the green, he dropped three balls about 30m away and attacked the hole with an approach shot. The first ball hit stopped right in front of the hole, and the other two balls were all 1m inside. It was impressive that the ball that fell on the green stopped in front of the hole as if it were attracted to a magnet.
Im Seong-jae will participate in the KPGA Korean Tour Woori Finance Championship (total prize money of 1.5 billion won) held at this golf course from the 11th. Two days ago, after finishing the Wells Fargo Championship on the PGA Tour, Lim Seong-jae boarded a flight home and immediately moved to Yeoju, where the tournament was held.
He returned home late in the afternoon and was less jetlagged, but had his first and final practice round that day.
Lim Seong-jae, who went to the course early in the morning, studied the course delicately while playing 18 holes with his friend Lee Jae-won, his friend of 15 years, and Jang Hee-min, his junior.
Swing coach Choi Hyeon, who watched Im Seong-jae’s practice round from beginning to end, looked at him with a slightly worried look. “It still looks heavy,” he said. His swing doesn’t look perfect either,” he said, observing from the side and evaluating it sharply.먹튀검증
Contrary to coach Choi Hyeon’s concerns, teammates who played rounds with Lim Seong-jae highly praised him. It was overwhelming in all aspects, including shot technique and course strategy.
Lee Jae-won (25), a friend and colleague of Im Seong-jae who has been friends with Lim Seong-jae since he was 10 years old, said, “It’s been almost 9 years since I played a practice round in an official game, but the class was different.” His approach skills were also excellent. He was also impressive in how he performed various technical shots in various situations. It was amazing to see him perform like this even though he must have been tired after returning home yesterday. He also evaluated that world-class players are different.”
The result of the practice round was also better than the championship. I did not officially calculate the number of strokes because I often hit tee shots several times in a hole, but I caught 5 birdies in only 9 holes in the first half and added 3 birdies in the second half, writing down an unofficial but 8 under par.
Im Seong-jae, who finished the practice round, showed quick adaptability, saying, “At first, my body felt a bit heavy, but from the 15th hole my body started to loosen up.”
Im Seong-jae, who competed in this tournament last year, was diagnosed with Corona 19 prior to the first round and withdrew without even being able to take a tee shot. Lim Seong-jae, who is returning to the Korean Tour for the first time in a year, pledged, “I will show the regrets of last year in a good way this year.”
Im Seong-jae will start the first round on the 11th at 12:57 in the 1st hole with Park Sang-hyun and Jung Chan-min.