Mar 1, 2019 4 min read

Sungjae Im was in the first group to tee off on the first hole Friday at The Honda Classic. He’ll be in the final group Saturday.

Im, the 20-year-old South Korean rookie who around this time last year was winning the first Web.com Tour start of his career, shot a 6-under 64 in the second round at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. He shared the 36-hole lead at 6-under 134 with Keith Mitchell (66).

It could be considered a surprise final pairing: Combined, Im and Mitchell have zero PGA Tour wins.

“It’s just nice to kind of feel like you’re in contention and playing well,” Mitchell said. “You’re out there actually trying to make birdies instead of trying to salvage and trying to make a cut … trying to make a birdie and force it. Today we were just out there trying to hit good shots.”

Mitchell had five birdies and bogey Friday; Im had seven birdies and a bogey to match the low round of the week so far. First-round leader Jhonattan Vegas shot a 64 on Thursday, and Adam Svensson had one Friday.

Im got through the second round on only 25 putts. He was the leading money-winner on the Web.com Tour last year, was atop the money list for the entire season and played his way into two majors.

“I was hitting the ball really well today, so all my putts were under 10 feet,” said Im, who had a 6:45 a.m. tee time. He’ll be able to sleep in much later Saturday, with his tee time scheduled for 1:35 p.m.

Even though the Honda is played in an area of South Florida where a number of PGA Tour players live – including Tiger Woods – the field includes only three of the top 20 players in the most recent world rankings.

Im grew up watching Woods, staying up until the middle of the night in many cases to see him play on television.

“Just watching him makes me nervous,” Im said.

He’s got a 36-hole lead to be nervous about now.

Lucas Glover (69) was third at 5 under. Svensson and Brooks Koepka were among those in a group at 4 under, and 42 players were within five shots of the lead.

Smoltz shoots 73: Kenny Perry shot an 8-under 65 to take the Cologuard Classic lead, Mark O’Meara matched the PGA Tour Champions record with eight straight birdies in a 66, and former baseball star John Smoltz failed to build on a strong start in his tour debut.

Smoltz birdied three of the first eight holes on Omni Tucson National’s Catalina Course, then played the final 10 in 3 over for an even-par 73. After birdieing the par-5 eighth, the 51-year-old Hall of Fame pitcher dropped strokes on the par-4 ninth and 10th. Playing on a sponsor exemption, he had a double bogey on the par-5 15th, birdied the par-5 17th and bogeyed the par-4 18th.

Perry made a 20-foot eagle putt from the fringe on the 17th – his eighth hole – in a bogey-free round. The 58-year-old Kentucky player has 10 victories on the 50-and-over tour after winning 14 times on the PGA Tour.

Wie out injured:No. 1-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn’s 10-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole gave her a 4-under 68 and a five-way share of the first-round lead at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore.

Defending champion Michelle Wie was forced to withdraw with a recurrence of a right hand injury. Wie, making her second start of the season after surgery on her right hand earlier this month, was 10-over after 14 holes when she withdrew while playing the 15th. She was holding her right wrist and hand as she walked up the fairway.