Sungjae Im hit the perfect golf swing. It was not awarded as such.
CBS Sports
Sungjae Im was doing almost everything he could to keep up with Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy on Saturday.
And on Quail Hollow’s hard par-3 17th, the second leg of North Carolina’s famous “Green Mile,” he may have done a better job.
Im stepped onto the tee of the 191-yard par-3 third by himself at eight under, four behind Schauffele as the third round of the Wells Fargo Championship ended.
His tee shot looked spectacular from the start. The shot tracer on the CBS broadcast showed it starting on the right side of the flagstick and slowly tracing back over it.
“This looks promising,” said CBS correspondent Mark Immelman.
Indeed, the gun looked good. A potential birdie steal where six were made throughout the day on Quail Hollow’s toughest fourth hole this week. But not all golf looks good and Im didn’t do it too aggressively.
Im’s ball was dribbled off the top of the flagstick and off the right and landed in the first cut of the foul beyond the pin. The typical South Korean took off his hat and put his hand on his head in confusion.
“That was a really bad break,” said commentator Ian Baker-Finch. “It hit the target.”
The crowd behind the tee kept cheering Im on as he collected himself and began to laugh at his bad luck.
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Maybe it was because they knew that this wasn’t even the first time that Im had been the victim of a terrible break in the past two months. At the Players Championship in March, Im’s own marker kept his shot from rolling back into the hole.
The shot Im left with was no picnic: A short-sided pin lay over the green that eluded him.
However, Im drove the ball into the putt and left himself a 10-footer which he converted to stay at 8 under and avoid his second straight bogey.
His luck was restored on the 18th. After driving it into the trees, chipping and missing the green at the third, Im blasted his fourth shot into the green and into an uneventful stretch.
He will start the final round four behind Schauffele and three behind McIlroy.
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