AUGUSTA: South Korea’s Im Sung-jae finished the first round of The Masters 2022 atop the leader board after shooting a 5-under-par 67, here at Augusta National on Thursday.

Sung-jae, who lost his touch in recent outings, has recovered his form at Augusta National, carding an eagle and five birdies in a five-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead over Cameron Smith of Australia.

With birdies on the opening three holes, the 24-year-old stormed up the leaderboard, and his 219-yard second shot landed 12 feet from the pin for an eagle at the par-five 13th.

Cameron Smith, who shot a 68 and was the clubhouse leader for a moment, is just behind Im. Smith finished his round with two double bogeys, one on the par-4 first hole and the other on the par-4 18th hole. He did, however, make eight birdies on holes 2 through 17.

Dustin Johnson, Danny Willett, Joaquin Niemann, and Scottie Schefler are tied for third place at 3 under. As he faced a difficult approach on 18, Johnson was in danger of dropping out of the top five, but a fantastic third shot into the green from the grandstand allowed him to save par.

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