Sungjae Im records the best front nine score of the week, climbs 52 spots on The Open leaderboard during round 3

Sungjae Im started the third round of the Open Championship on fire as he went 5-under on the front nine. He made a huge 52-spot surge in the leaderboard, after shooting the lowest front-nine score of the week so far.

On Saturday, July 20, Im entered the third round of the Open Championship at 6-over and was tied for 71st after 36 holes. However, he had other plans for Saturday, as he sank three back-to-back birdies on holes 3 to 5 and then picked up a couple more on the 8th and 9th to close the front nine at 5-under 31. This is the lowest front-nine score registered this week.

Im had a horrible start to the week as he carded a 5-over 76 on Day 1 at Royal Troon. He picked up just one birdie but ended up bogeying six holes. However, he survived by a whisker at the tournament on Friday, July 19, after shooting 1-over 72. He improved his birdie count and made three on Day 2 but also sank two bogeys and one double bogey.

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Sungjae Im moves to T19 after 14 holes at the Open Championship, Round 3

At the time of writing this article, Sungjae Im was tied for 19th at the Open Championship and was two over for the week. He didn't add another birdie in the next five holes and bogeyed the par-3 14th.

Im has been consistent in his recent performances ahead of the Open Championship. He has five top-ten finishes in the past six non-major starts on the PGA Tour, including a T3 finish at the Travelers Championship. However, speaking of the major championships, he missed the cut in three championships before this week. This week, he made it to the weekend only by one stroke.

Sungjae Im has made 14 cuts this season before this week and has recorded 10 top-25 finishes. However, he has been in a title drought since the 2021 Shriners Children's Open.

Although Im has made a huge move with his flying start on Day 3, he has a huge gap to fill as he's still nine strokes behind Shane Lowry, who is yet to tee off.