Kim Si-woo Climbs to Tied 5th After Round 2 of The Open; Im Sung-jae Drops to 25th

Kim Si-woo has moved up to a tie for 5th place after shaving strokes off his score in the second round of The Open Championship (total purse of 17.75 million dollars), the final major tournament of the men's golf season.

On the 17th (local time), Kim carded a 3-under 67 in the second round held at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club (par 70) in Southport, England, recording six birdies and three bogeys.

Kim, who was tied for 13th at 2-under after the first round the previous day, finished with a two-round total of 5-under 135, placing him in a tie for 5th alongside Bryson DeChambeau and Sam Burns (both from the U.S.).

He sits three strokes behind the sole leader, Lucas Herbert (Australia, 8-under 132).

Kim, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, has been performing consistently this season with five top-10 finishes and currently ranks 7th in the FedEx Cup standings.

His best finish in a major tournament this year was a tie for 35th at the PGA Championship in May.

In this tournament, he has raised expectations by competing near the top of the leaderboard for the first two days.

Kim struggled early in the day, managing only one birdie against three bogeys to lose two strokes on the front nine.

However, he regained momentum after sinking a birdie putt of approximately 6.5 meters on the 10th hole (par 4), the first hole of the back nine. He picked up another stroke on the 11th hole (par 4), followed by consecutive birdies on the 13th and 14th holes, and added another birdie on the 17th hole (par 5).

Im Sung-jae, who was tied for 2nd with a 4-under 66 in the first round, lost two strokes today and slipped to a tie for 25th (2-under 138).

Other Korean players failed to make the cut.

The cut line was set at 1-over 141, with players tied for 67th and better advancing to the next round.

Kim Joo-hyung, who ended a 33-month winless drought at the Genesis Scottish Open held just before this tournament, lost three strokes today and was eliminated with a two-round total of 3-over 143.

Yang Ji-ho, who earned his spot in The Open by winning the Korea Open in May, finished at 7-over, and Ham Jeong-woo, who qualified after winning the Asian Tour Singapore Open in April, finished at 9-over, both failing to advance.

Herbert, who has one PGA Tour win and three European Tour (now DP World Tour) victories and currently competes on the LIV Golf circuit, fired an 8-under 62 today with nine birdies and one bogey to take the sole lead, two strokes ahead of the players in second place.

The 62 shot by Herbert ties the record for the lowest single-round score in a major championship.

Herbert missed the chance to set a new record after carding his only bogey of the day on the 18th hole (par 4).

Burns also shaved eight strokes off his score today, joining the group of players who have shot a 62 in a major, and jumped into a tie for 5th.

Defending champion and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (U.S.) improved by two strokes in the second round to finish tied for 8th (4-under 136) alongside Tommy Fleetwood (England) and Jon Rahm (Spain).

World No. 2 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), who achieved a repeat victory at the Masters Tournament in April, the first major of the season, improved by three strokes to finish tied for 38th (1-under 139) with Justin Thomas (U.S.) and Hideki Matsuyama (Japan).

(Photo: Getty Images)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.