Im, Kanaya stay alive as Kim falters in Austin

AUSTIN (TEXAS) • South Korea's Im Sung-jae and Japanese debutant Takumi Kanaya notched impressive victories on Thursday to keep alive their hopes of advancing to the last 16 of the US$12 million (S$16.3 million) World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play event.

But, after an opening-day win over Daniel Berger, Kim Si-woo suffered a 1-up defeat by England's Tyrrell Hatton following a bogey at the last hole at Austin Country Club.

The straight-shooting Im, a two-time PGA Tour winner, thumped Keith Mitchell 5 and 3, thanks to five birdies in 15 holes which made up for his disappointing opening-day loss to Seamus Power.

He said: "When I played against Seamus yesterday, he hit great shots and made no mistakes whereas I made some mistakes.

"So after the match, I went straight to the driving range to check my shots and routine. I was happy I could play a good match against Keith and hit a lot of good tee shots and made few mistakes."

Short birdies on the first and third gave the Korean an early lead and he took full control by making the turn 3-up before closing out with birdie conversions on the 12th and 15th holes.

"The key to my good play was on the front nine. I think for match play, the early holes are very important to get momentum. Made birdie on No. 1, which helped," said Im, 23, who will face Patrick Cantlay next.

Kanaya, a former amateur world No. 1, was given little chance of beating 18th seed Tony Finau. But the slightly built Japanese produced some spectacular shots down the stretch to create one of the upsets of the day with a 1-up victory.

He was 2-down with four to play but chipped in for birdie from the greenside rough on No. 15, holed a six-foot birdie to tie the match on No. 16 and rolled in a 36-footer on No. 17 to go 1-up and hung on for a memorable win with a closing par.

"Tony and I played well but I happened to find a little bit of luck in the end which was the difference," said a delighted Kanaya, a three-time winner on the Japan Golf Tour.

"It was a tight match all the way to the end but I never gave up. Coming out on top gives me more confidence and hopefully I can continue playing well and carry that momentum into my match (against Lucas Herbert) tomorrow."

The top-ranked Jon Rahm, the US Open champion, rallied for a 5 and 4 win over American Cameron Young to remain unbeaten.

The Spaniard fought back from 2-down after five holes and improved to 2-0 to lead his group entering yesterday's final group-stage matches.

"I'm confident," Rahm said. "I'm happy, feeling good. Playing good golf. It was a tricky day."

PGA TOUR, REUTERS