TOUR: Sungjae Im Looking to Defend His Title at The Honda Classic

After a weekend of dramatic play at THE PLAYERS Championship, Sungjae Im is locking in to his focus on attempting to defend his title at The Honda Classic.

At TPC Sawgrass, Im gave it everything he had by finishing tied for 17th place at -7 behind the comeback heroics of Justin Thomas in securing his spot amongst THE PLAYERS elite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by SungJae Im 임성재 (@sungjaeim330)

Sungjae Im’s only career victory came from his victory at The Honda Classic in 2020, and he will use the momentum he has from his stellar athletics at THE PLAYERS to try and pick up his second career win on TOUR. He currently ranks No. 18 in the Official World Golf Rankings and 19th in the FedEx Cup race with 799 points.

For a golfer who has consistently proven to be a competitor on TOUR, especially his recent runner-up finish at the 2020 Masters behind Dustin Johnson, look for Sungjae to build onto his resume by adding a possible top-10 finish, or even better, a win.

A Look at the Stat Leaders in Last Year’s Honda Classic

Strokes Gained

• Tee-to-Green: Sungjae Im (3.072)
• Off-the-Tee: Brendan Steele (1.117)
• Putting: Charl Schwartzel (2.253)
• Total: Sungjae Im: (3.318)

Driving Distance: Brandon Hagy (320 avg.)

Driving Accuracy: Chris Baker, Brian Stuard (76.79% fairways hit)

Sungjae Im’s 2021 Stats Thus Far

Strokes Gained

• Off-the-Tee: .707 (6th)
• Approach-the-Green: .181 (81st)
• Around-the-Green: -.320 (192nd)
• Putting: .430 (44th)
• Tee-to-Green: .567 (53rd)
• Total: .998 (34th)

Scoring Average: 70.180 (37th)

Driving Distance: 297.2 (85th)

Driving Accuracy %: 69.68 (10th)

Greens in Regulation %: 70.34 (28th)

Scrambling %: 61.03 (70th)

As one can analyze from his statistics above, Sungjae Im has not faired too well thus far in the 2021 season, but his reputation and history at The Honda Classic could trump doubters’ thoughts on Im’s ability to compete in this year’s edition of the tournament.

It won’t be an easy task for Sungjae to defend his title based on the field and the many competitors who, like Sungjae, are looking for their first victory of the 2021 season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Phil Mickelson (@philmickelson)

Phil Mickelson is an interesting name in the field. I know, Phil the thrill has not exactly lived up to his past hype (most likely due to his age), but I think he can stun the golf world by picking up another victory. Look at what he did at THE PLAYERS.

Many people thought he would miss the cut, but he stuck it out, played the best golf he was capable of, and was able to play through the weekend. Golf fans should expect Mickelson to look for one more victory on TOUR before hanging up the towel, and this just may be the opportunity.

Another interesting player in the field this weekend, and my personal pick to take the title, is Adam Scott. Watching him perform at THE PLAYERS was a great sight to see as he basically owned the island-green 17th by nailing each of his tee shots throughout the weekend within gimme birdie distance.

Although he would only shoot a weekend score of one-under-par and a T48th finish, he proved to everyone, like he does in virtually every start, that he still has what it takes to contend, even possibly win, on TOUR.

Yes, I do like one of the veteran golfers to take The Honda Classic title this year, but I could stand corrected at the end of the weekend. There are several young faces on TOUR that I could see hoisting the trophy, one of whom is Daniel Berger who has constantly been in contention over the past couple of months. He has all the firepower and confidence a young golfer should have, and he could prove to be a scary entity this weekend.

While so many notable golfers will attempt to etch their names in Honda Classic history, they all have to stand the test of Sungjae Im’s conviction at this tournament.

This should be a fun one to watch, but then again when isn’t golf fun to watch?

Cover Image via Instagram