Sungjae Im positions himself one shot off the lead after brilliant opening round at The 154th Open
The South Korean carded a clinical four-under-par 66 to chase down surprise early leader Jackson Suber at Royal Birkdale
Southport, England - South Korea’s Sungjae Im vaulted into contention at the season’s final men’s Major Championship, securing a share of second place after the opening round of The 154th Open in Southport, England. Navigating the historically tight layout of Royal Birkdale Golf Club, the 28-year-old displayed superb accuracy to card a four-under-par 66, leaving him just one stroke adrift of surprise first-round leader Jackson Suber of the United States. Im shares the second spot with home favorite Daniel Brown on a heavily congested leaderboard.
The stellar start provides Im with a golden opportunity to rewrite his 2026 Major narrative, following a frustrating run earlier this year that saw him finish 46th at the Masters, miss the cut at the PGA Championship, and tie for 43rd at the U.S. Open. Im steady’d himself through a quiet front nine, trading a birdie on the par-three fourth with a bogey on the sixth, before unleashing a back-nine charge. Consecutive birdies on the 10th and 11th shifted his momentum, which he sustained by stiffing a third shot on the 14th to setup a tap-in birdie, before closing his day with an excellent up-and-down birdie from the greenside rough on the par-five 17th.
“The wind wasn’t overly brutal today, so I didn’t face major difficulties attacking with my tee shots and approaches,” Im reflected. “I memorized my strategy for the course beforehand and strictly stuck to my routine. I didn’t let greed get the better of me, and whenever a scoring chance appeared, the putts dropped. Among all the Open venues I’ve experienced, these fairways feel the narrowest. But if you keep the ball on the short grass, it plays fair—and that suits my style perfectly.”
Fellow countryman Si Woo Kim also enjoyed a highly productive opening day in Southport, grinding out a two-under-par 68. Kim’s three-birdie performance places him in a star-studded tie for 13th alongside World Number One and defending champion Scottie Scheffler. Scheffler looked poised to push for the absolute lead after turning in three-under, but an unexpected late bogey on the par-five 17th halted his charge.
Meanwhile, Tom Kim—who arrived in England carrying immense momentum after snapping a 33-month winless drought at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open—battled deteriorating afternoon conditions to sign for a stable, even-par 70. Kim sits in a tie for 39th alongside Australian standout Min Woo Lee. “The wind picked up significantly in the afternoon,” Kim noted. “I played a very quiet round with two birdies and two bogeys. While I wish a few more putts had dropped, it’s a solid baseline start, and I just need to figure out how to squeeze a few more scores out of days like this.”
Conversely, the opening round proved to be a brutal examination for the remainder of the field. Four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy struggled to find his rhythm on the links, stalling with a two-over-par 72 to sit in a tie for 85th. Further down the standings, Korean qualifiers Jeong-woo Ham and Ji-ho Yang endured agonizing afternoons, each carding seven-over-par 77s to fall back into a tie for 178th, leaving them with a mountain to climb to survive Friday’s upcoming midway cut.