The world of PGA Tour golf has a new record for birdies in 72 holes in the first event of the season thanks to Sungjae Im.
The South Korean has been in contention all weekend at The Sentry and has put on a birdie blitz to place himself into the record books for the time being.
Im, 25, has been in fine fettle all weekend in Hawaii and even if he doesn’t come out on top, he’ll walk away with the record for most birdies in a 72-hole round on the PGA Tour.
Sungjae Im hits most birdies in 72 holes on the PGA Tour
Going along nicely in his final round, Im suddenly found a run of birdies to put himself into the record books.
Im nailed birdies on 12, 13 and 14 to equal the record, before smashing his second shot to within 30-feet on the 15th and completing an easy two-putt to make it 33 birdies for the week.
The South Korean has two PGA Tour wins to his name and is among a cluster of young golfers looking to make a big splash this season.
Im will be hoping to be in contention in the majors this year. Indeed, he came second at The Masters back in 2020, before finishing a respectable 16th last year.
Record for birdies in 72 holes finally goes after 23 years
The record of 32 birdies has stood for more than 20 years now, which just shows the magnitude of the achievement from Sungjae Im here.
That record was set by Mark Calcavecchia, who fired in the impressive 32 at the 2001 Phoenix Open.
However, Calcavecchia isn’t alone in making 32. Paul Gow did it in the same year in New York, while more recently, Jon Rahm equalled it at The Sentry in 2022.
But now, Im stands alone in being the man at the top of that particular record.
And given it took some 23 years for someone to come along and break it in the first place, the 25-year-old might just find himself top of the pops for a while yet. Quite frankly, hitting that amount of birdies in 72 holes is just a remarkable achievement.
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