The American Express - Tournament Notes & Quotes
Sungjae Im recorded seven birdies in his bogey-free R-2 to take the lead at The American Express at LaQuinta. He maintains a one stroke lead over five players heading into the weekend of play.
Seventeen players are within three strokes of the lead and 25 players are within four strokes of Sungjae Im who noted his improvement today was due to his mid-range putting.
“I was struggling with my putting leading up to this week,” he said. “So I worked on my putting a lot and especially for today's round I feel like my mid-range putts were really doing well, I dropped a lot of mid-range putts and that's what led me to a good score today.
“I feel comfortable playing at the American Express and visually from the tee box it's a course that I really like and enjoy to play, so I feel really comfortable throughout the round,” he added.
Abraham Ancer, Paul Casey and Brian Stuard matched Sungjae Im’s (65) in R-2. Ancer is among the five players T-2.
Phil Mickelson shot par on every hole for the first time in his PGA Tour career but that was not enough as it was combined with his two over (74) on Thursday and Mickelson missed the cut.
Mark Hubbard unveiled one of the stranger putting strokes ever seen on tour. As he was sure to miss the cut, his arm extended down the club for an awkward stroke (see Parting Putt below for video). Hubbard shot 68-76 (144) to miss the (-4) or 140 cutline. Overall, Hubbard needed 31 putts for his doomed second-round 76, which left him 11 shots behind the leaders.
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The American Express - Leaderboard
(After Round 2)
Sungjae Im - 68-65 (-11)
Si Woo Kim - 66-68 (-10)
Abraham Ancer - 69-65 (-10)
Brandon Hagy - 64-70 (-10)
Nick Taylor - 68-66 (-10)
Tony Finau - 68-66 (-10)
Three players tied for seventh at (-9) and eight players tied for tenth at (-8)
Full Leaderboard (link)
What They’re Saying:
Sungjae Im Leads at American Express (Associated Press/ESPN)
Chris Kirk’s Path Back (Golf Week/USA Today)
Good Vibes for Finau (PGATourCom)
Mickelson Pars All 18 Holes but Misses Cut (Golf Week/USA Today)
The Basics:
ROUND 3 TEE TIMES: Begin at 9:20am (local)/12:20pm (ET) - (link)
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedEXCup @theamexgolf @TheAmexGolf
TV COVERAGE: (All on GOLF CHANNEL) Saturday, January 23 and Sunday, January 24 - 3:00pm to 7:00pm (ET)
PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: (On Sirius XM Satellite Radio or Online at PGA Tour (dot) com) - Saturday, January 23 and Sunday, January 24 - 2:00pm-7:00pm (ET)
On This Day in Golf History:
January 23, 1977 - Tom Watson won for the first time at Pebble Beach, shooting a final-round (71) to win the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, one shot better than runner-up Tony Jacklin. Watson would go on to win at Pebble Beach in 1978 as well. (Courtesy Randy Walker), Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE
Partin’ Putt:
By Mark Hubbard …
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