Korean Sung-jae hits record 34 birdies for 72-hole meet

SOUTH Korea’s Im Sung-jae reinforced his reputation as a birdie machine as he established another PGA Tour record by hitting the most birdies in a 72-hole tournament en route to a career third top-10 finish at The Sentry golf tournament.

On a final day where Chris Kirk claimed a thrilling one-stroke victory over Sahith Theegala in the seasonopening event of 2024 and compatriot Byeong Hun An posting a solo fourth in his debut at The Plantation course at Kapalua, Sungjae ensured a memorable week for himself by registering an unprecedented 34 birdies throughout four days.

The previous record was 32 birdies, achieved three times and most recently by Jon Rahm at The Sentry last year. Paul Gow (2001 BC Open) and Mark Calcavecchia (2001 WM Phoenix Open) also shared the record until Sunday.

Sung-jae shot a final round of 63, featuring 11 birdies, to finish tied fifth.

While delighted with his record feat, Sung-jae was still somewhat disappointed with his third round of 73 on Saturday which knocked him out of contention in his search for a third PGA TOUR title at the Us$20mil (Rm93mil) showpiece on the worldfamous holiday isle.

“I made a lot of birdies, but I kept thinking about the mistakes I made yesterday. So I played hard today and was able to finish with 11 birdies,” said Sung-jae, who finished T5 in 2021 and T8 in 2022.

This is the second birdie record Sung-jae now proudly holds as in 2021, he snared 498 birdies to set a new record for most birdies during a season, breaking the previous mark of 493 by Steve Flesch in 2000.

The two-time International Team member at the Presidents is now looking forward to sustaining his hot start and ending his title drought soon.

“I was fortunate I was able to perform well in my first tournament and I think that’s because I spent a lot of time in Korea over the winter working on my body, and it showed and gave me a good start,” said the 25-year-old.