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Countrymen Sungjae Im, Si Woo Kim in Hunt at American Express

By Tim Letcher

LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 22: Sungjae Im of South Korea plays a shot on the 11th hole during the second round of The American Express tournament on the Stadium course at PGA West on January 22, 2021 in La Quinta, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 22: Sungjae Im of South Korea plays a shot on the 11th hole during the second round of The American Express tournament on the Stadium course at PGA West on January 22, 2021 in La Quinta, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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A pair of South Koreans are among the leaders after 36 holes at the American Express. And it turns out that Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim are not only countrymen, but also long-time competitors.

This week, in California, Im has a one-shot lead after two rounds of play. He opened with a 68 on Thursday, but really made his move on Friday.

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Playing the back nine first, Im recorded two pars before his first birdie of the day, at No. 12. He followed that with a birdie on No. 13 to get to 2-under par. Im would close his first nine with a birdie on the 18th hole, giving him a 3-under par 33.

Im opened his second nine with a birdie on the first hole. After a par on the second, he birdied the third hole to get to 5-under par on his round. He would par the fourth, fifth and sixth holes before a birdie on the seventh got him to 6-under par.

He would birdie the eighth hole and par the ninth. That left him with a 32 on the front nine and a 65 overall. That gave Im a one-shot lead.

Hot on Im’s trail is his countryman Kim, who opened the week in California with a 66. Then on Friday, he had a so-so front nine followed by a very good back nine.

Kim had birdies on the second and seventh holes to go with a bogey on the fifth hole. That left him with a 1-under par 35 on his front nine.

The back nine was a different story for Kim.

He birdied the 10th hole, then the 11th to get to 3-under par. After a par on the 12th, Kim recorded another birdie, this one on the 13th, to get to 4-under on his round.

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Kim stayed hot with a birdie on the 15th hole to get to 5-under par. He did suffer a bogey at 17, but he still finished with a 4-under par 68. That left him just one shot behind Im.

The two players will go head-to-head all weekend as Kim looks for his third PGA Tour title and Im, his second. At just 25 (Kim) and 22 (Im) years of age, the future is bright for both of these players. And it could be a lot of fun to see them compete for a title this week at the American Express.

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