Opposite attracts as Im Sung-jae, Keith Mitchell soar at Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Im Sung-jae and Keith Mitchell react during the pro-am prior to the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana on April 19 in Avondale, Louisiana. [GETTY IMAGES]

Korea’s Im Sung-jae and Keith Mitchell of the United States certainly looked like a mismatch when teams for this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans was finalized. Im’s English is limited, although it’s improving, while Mitchell’s knowledge of Korean is practically non-existent.

However, that did not deter the newly-formed partnership as Im and Mitchell combined superbly for a 10-under 62 in the first round’s Four-Ball session to share third spot on Thursday.

The Korean-American pairing was on fire at TPC Louisiana with a scorecard comprising an eagle, nine birdies and a lone bogey and they sit one adrift of Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler and Sean O’Hair and Brandon Matthews, in the only official FedExCup tournament to feature a two-player team format.

The other Asian star who impressed was Noh Seung-yul, the 2014 Zurich Classic of New Orleans winner when the tournament was held as an individual strokeplay event. He teamed up with Korean-American Michael Kim to also post a 62 to be part of the five-way tie for third, which also included last week’s RBC Heritage champion Matthew Fitzpatrick and his younger brother, Alex.

Korean duo Kim Si-woo and Tom Kim, also known as Kim Joo-hyung teaming up again after last year’s Presidents Cup heroics, signed for a 66 while compatriots An Byeong-hun and Kim Seong-hyeon returned a 67, a score matched by defending champions Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.

Friday will see Foursomes being used, with the top 33 teams and ties after 36 holes advancing to the weekend.

Im and Mitchell showed great camaraderie and instant brotherhood as they brought the best out of each other. World No. 17 Im, a two-time PGA Tour winner, fired six birdies, while Mitchell, a one-time winner, chipped in an eagle and contributed three birdies to the team.

A delighted Mitchell was full of praise of his Korean partner.

“Sungjae's golf game worked fantastic out there. Unfortunately, he only made one bogey, and I bogeyed the same hole,” said the world No. 50. “Other than that, we had a great time. He hit a bunch of laser beams and smiled, and I just tried to help when I could.

“Obviously 10-under is fantastic. I think Sungjae shot 6-under on his own ball. I mean, it was unbelievable."

Mitchell initially had no intention of playing this week but changed his mind after Im reached out. The American had wanted to play with Im in 2019 after they were paired together at The Honda Classic but Im had already committed to Whee Kim. Mitchell thought it was a polite way for Im to turn him down.

“Just a couple of weeks ago, it was a late commit. I wasn't planning on playing, and when you have the opportunity to play with such a superstar, you say yes,” said Mitchell.

“When this event first became a team event, I remember Sungjae was a rookie, and all he did was just smile and high five and stripe it. I was like, man, this guy is going to be really good. So jokingly one day, I was like, hey, we need to play Zurich and he already had a partner. This year he finally thought my game was good enough to play with him and asked me to play, and of course, you say yes!”

While Im’s command of English is a work in progress, he learned on Thursday a few things about American college football as Mitchell is a staunch Georgia Bulldogs fan.

“I taught him about Georgia football. Aren’t you a Georgia fan now?” asked Mitchell. Im replied: “Georgia fan, Bulldogs.”

BY CHUAH CHOO CHIANG [kjdsports@joongang.co.kr]