Im Sung-jae continues to fight for Genesis Scottish Open title

Im Sung-jae smiles and greets fans on the ninth green during the second round of the Genesis Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland, on Friday. [PGA TOUR]

Im Sung-jae isn't too keen on the exotic nature of links golf yet, but his 3-under-par 67 in the second round of the Genesis Open in Scotland on Friday, which kept him in title contention, may be slowly changing his mind.

Two days of near-perfect playing conditions at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick played a big role for 26-year-old Ren Zhiqiang, who was making his third appearance at the $9 million event jointly sanctioned by the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour.

A two-time PGA Tour champion, he entered the weekend just two shots behind 36-hole leader Ludvig Aberg, who shot a bogey-free 64 as the world No. 4 chased his third victory since turning pro last summer.

Ren Zhiqiang, who failed to break par and make the cut in his previous two appearances at the Genesis Scottish Open, was in good form and tied for third at 10 under to become Asia's leading challenger.

“To be honest, I don't like links courses very much, but I'm glad that I played better than I thought this week,” Ren said. “The weather today was about the same as yesterday, so I didn't have any problems. The weather seemed to help me a lot. When it was windy, it was a little difficult, but now it's OK, and I'm doing well after two days.”

He flew to Scotland in impressive form, having amassed four top 10s since May. Starting on the back nine, he made easy birdies at the 10th and 16th holes and a 13-foot birdie at the 13th. He bogeyed the first hole for the second day in a row due to a rare tee shot error, then bounced back with a 3-foot birdie at the fifth.

“At the beginning of the season, I wasn't getting the results I wanted so it was a bit difficult, but from April on, my putting habits changed, my swing gradually got to where I wanted it to be and I think my ball striking became more consistent. As my results kept improving, I gained confidence and kept believing in myself. I'm playing really well now,” he said.

Major champion Collin Morikawa and defending champion Rory McIlroy both tied for fifth, just three places behind. The smooth-swinging Im is ready to work hard to become the second Asian golfer to win the Scottish Open after India's Jeev Milkha Singh in 2012.

“I will trust my performance and focus on my game. There are a lot of good players at the top of the leaderboard, so I won't be too greedy and I will try to play my best in every shot,” he said.

The 24-year-old Aberg has been on a tear since qualifying for the PGA Tour last June, finishing first in the innovative PGA Tour Collegiate Program, which honors the top college golfers in the U.S. The Swede, who has won once each on the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour, dominated the tournament with six birdies to finish one shot ahead of Anthony Rozner, who also shot a 64.

“It was awesome. I felt like we had a really good game plan and executed well. We tried not to force anything. We tried to be very receptive when we played, make sure we took good swings and gave ourselves enough opportunities, and I felt like we did that really well,” Aberg said.

Cai Chujiang [kjdsports@joongang.co.kr]