Sung-jae Im: In recovery mode to win the Honda Classic

Sung-jae Im is a one-stroke winner at the Honda Classic thanks to his skill in escaping trouble.

The recipe for winning on the PGA Tour is both simple and complex. You have to drive well, stick your irons, recover when you don’t stick your irons, and hope you can find a few hot moments with the putter. Sung-jae Im was able to mostly do that Sunday at the Honda Classic.

Fine a player who does all those things well on a week-in-week-out basis and you have a generational star. There hasn’t been one of those since Tiger Woods in his prime.

But Sunday in the final round of the Honda Classic, Sung-jae Im pulled most of those elements together most of the time. On courses as challenging as PGA National, those ‘mosts’ can be good enough to win.

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Delivering a closing 66 for a four-round score of six-under 274 and a one-stroke margin over Mackenzie Hughes, Im won by taking advantage of birdie chances when they presented themselves while overcoming the abundant opportunities he gave himself to screw up.

The result was a deep and mostly even statistical profile: Im tied for 10th for the week in Strokes Gained Off the Tee, sixth in Strokes Gained Approaching the Green and fifth in Strokes Gained around the green.

He was a pedestrian t-38 in Strokes Gained Putting, but his iron play Sunday covered that shortcoming. On seven holes, Im struck his approach shot within 11 feet of the cup. He played those seven holes in seven-under par, making all of them except for a 10-foot eagle try on the par 5 third.

Im’s strongest asset all week, however, was his recovery game. PGA National is a demanding layout for even the game’s best; the field hit only 57 percent of greens in regulation this week. That placed a premium on recovery games.

Im survived his seven missed greens in just two-over par. He wasn’t alone in that. Hughes, the runner-up, led the field in Strokes Gained Around The Green. Enroute to a tie for fourth at three-under, Byeong Hun An was third in Strokes Gained Around the Green.

Yes, that’s unusual. On Tour, the champion almost always draws his strength from superb driving, precision iron play or a blazing hot putter. Few win by pitching well.

Except at PGA National, where recovery excellence appears to be a must. Im was the second consecutive Honda winner who ranked highest in his recovery game. Last year’s winner, Keith Mitchell, ranked sixth in Strokes Gained Around The Green, seventh in Approaches, 12th in driving and only 38th in putting.

How unusual is it for the recovery game to be decisive? Since last year’s Honda, there have been 30 individual medal play events for which Strokes Gained data was collected. Of those 30 winners, the strongest asset for 11 was their approach game, 10 excelled at putting and eight at driving.

Until Im did it Sunday, Mitchell was the last champion to draw his greatest advantage from his recovery shots.

I’m recovery skills held him in good stead down the stretch. Leading by one at the tee on the 18th hole, a reachable par 5, Im drove into an awkward stance in the rough, laid up, then dumped his third shot into a greenside bunker. But he blasted out within three feet and holed the putt for the winning par.

It was an entirely apt conclusion to Sung-jae Im’s first professional victory.