Im cards 4-under 67 to rise 13 spots; Mitchell, Bridgeman share lead

Im Sung-jae tees off on the fifth hole during the second round of the PGA Tour BayCurrent Classic at Yokohama Country Club in Japan on Friday. [Getty Images]
Im Sung-jae tees off on the fifth hole during the second round of the PGA Tour BayCurrent Classic at Yokohama Country Club in Japan on Friday. [Getty Images]

Im Sung-jae moved into contention at the PGA Tour BayCurrent Classic ($8 million purse) in Japan on Friday, carding a 4-under round to climb the leaderboard.

Im posted five birdies against one bogey for a 4-under 67 in the second round at Yokohama Country Club (par 71).

At 6-under 136 for the tournament, Im rose 13 spots to share 13th place, five strokes behind co-leaders Keith Mitchell and Jacob Bridgeman of the United States, who are tied at 11-under 131.

Im opened with a birdie on the par-4 second hole and turned at 1-under. He added birdies on the par-4 10th and par-4 13th on the back nine, then strung together consecutive birdies on Nos. 15 and 16. However, a bogey on the par-4 18th took the shine off an otherwise strong round.

Im missed the Tour Championship — the PGA Tour's playoff finale — this season and competed in the Presidents Cup last month before taking a break ahead of this event.

After the BayCurrent Classic, Im is scheduled to play consecutive starts at the Asian Tour's SJM Macau Open and the KPGA Tour Genesis Championship.

Lee Sang-hee, who qualified as one of the Japan Golf Tour Organization's top money earners this season, carded two birdies and four bogeys for a 2-over 73 on Friday. He sits at 3-over 145 for the tournament, tied for 66th.


yjc@heraldcorp.com