PALM HARBOR, Fla. – The rust is officially off Sungjae Im.
After missing the cut at his first two starts following a lengthy layoff while nursing a wrist injury, Im played the first three holes at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course in 4 under and posted 7-under 64 Thursday to take an early lead a the Valspar Championship.
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“The irons were dialed in and the putter was hot,” said Will Wilcox, Im’s caddie. “That’s the way he normally plays, same temperament, just a few extra fist bumps.”
Sungjae Im of South Korea looks on during the pro-am prior to the Valspar Championship on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club on March 18, 2026 in Palm Harbor, Florida.
Im returned to the Titleist T-100 irons he has used for more than seven years. He had tried the T-150s at his first two starts. He also switched back from Vokey SM11 wedges to SM7s.
“The ball striking is coming around and he’s on the right path with his golf swing,” Wilcox said.
Im took a break after the Tour Championship in late August until the PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship in October and also played in Macau and Korea before shutting things down Oct. 26. Im won a gold medal at the 2023 Asian Games, Korea’s first team gold medal in 13 years, making him exempt from serving a two-year military term. But it didn’t get him out of doing a 4-week military boot camp. Im said he injured his right wrist hitting balls on the cold turf of Korea. “It’s getting better,” Im said.
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He returned to the Tour on March 7 and missed the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational after shooting 76-72 as well as last week at The Players, where he missed the weekend by a stroke after posting 75-72.
Starting on the back nine Thursday morning, Im birdied the first and then rolled in a 17-foot eagle putt at No. 11 and poured in another birdie putt at 12. He shot 30 on his first nine and was 7 under after sinking a 33-foot eagle putt at the par-5 first.
He had it to 9 under through 15 holes but made bogeys at Nos. 6 and 8. Still, he ranked first in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green and second in SG: Putting among the field of 135. The only thing Im was complaining about on Thursday was the fit of his sweater from his new apparel sponsor, Malbon Golf. “Too big,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Valspar Championship 2026: Sungjae Im shoots 64 Thursday
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