Im Sung-jae explained

Im Sung-jae
Birth Date:30 March 1998
Birth Place:Cheongju, South Korea
Weight:200lb
College:Korea National Sport University
Yearpro:2015
Tour:PGA Tour
Korean Tour
Extour:European Tour
Japan Golf Tour
Web.com Tour
Prowins:7
Pgawins:2
Nwidewins:2
Otherwins:3
Masters:T2: 2020
Usopen:22nd: 2020
Open:T7: 2024
Pga:T17: 2021
Award1:Web.com Tour
regular season money list winner
Year1:2018
Award2:Web.com Tour
Player of the Year
Year2:2018
Award3:Web.com Tour
Rookie of the Year
Year3:2018
Award4:PGA Tour
Rookie of the Year
Year4:2018–19

Im Sung-jae (Korean: 임성재; born 30 March 1998), also known as Sungjae Im, is a South Korean professional golfer. Im won twice and was Player of the Year on the 2018 Web.com Tour. He was Rookie of the Year for the 2018–19 PGA Tour, and got his first PGA Tour victory at The Honda Classic in March 2020.

Professional career

Im turned professional in 2015. In 2016 and 2017 he played on the Japan Golf Tour, his best finish being joint runner-up in the 2017 Mynavi ABC Championship. In 2017 he finished 12th in the tour money list and 5th in the scoring average. He played a number of tournaments on the Korean Tour, his best finish being joint runner-up in the 2017 T-up Gswing Mega Open.

In December 2017, Im finished second in the Web.com Tour Q-school, including a third round of 60.[1] He won the first event of the season, The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic, becoming, at, the second youngest winner in Web.com Tour history. Only Jason Day, at, had been a younger winner.[2] Im had three solo runner-up finishes, in The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic, the Knoxville Open and the Pinnacle Bank Championship, and finished the regular season by winning the WinCo Foods Portland Open. He led the regular season money list and was named Web.com Tour Player of the Year.

In the 2018–19 PGA Tour season, Im won the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. He became just the 13th rookie to qualify for the Tour Championship in the FedEx Cup era, ultimately finishing 19th in the standings. Im led the tour in starts (35) and cuts made (26), and his 118 rounds were 18 more than the nearest competitor. He had seven top-10s in 2019, highlighted by a T-3 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and finished 17th in strokes gained. Im joined Stewart Cink (1996–97) as the only players to be named the Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year and PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in consecutive seasons.[3]

On 22 September 2019, Im lost the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi in a playoff to Sebastián Muñoz.[4]

In December 2019, Im played on the International team at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. The U.S. team won 16–14. Im went 3–1–1 and won his Sunday singles match against Gary Woodland.[5]

On 1 March 2020, Im won The Honda Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, with a final round of 66 and an overall score of −6. He finished one stroke ahead of Mackenzie Hughes, and moved to second place in the FedEx Cup standings.[6]

In November 2020, Im finished tied for second place at the Masters Tournament; five shots behind Dustin Johnson.

On 10 October 2021, Im won the Shriners Children's Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, Nevada for his second PGA Tour title in his 100th start. Im shot a final round 9-under 62 and won by four shots over Matthew Wolff, coming from three behind at the start of the day.[7]

Im qualified for the International team at the 2022 Presidents Cup; he won two, tied one and lost two of the five matches he played.[8]

In May 2023, Im travelled to South Korea, the week before the PGA Championship to play in the Woori Financial Group Championship on the Korean Tour. He shot a final-round 68, including an up-and-down birdie on the final hole to win by one shot.[9]

Professional wins (7)

PGA Tour wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
11 Mar 2020The Honda Classic−6 (72-66-70-66=274)1 stroke Mackenzie Hughes
210 Oct 2021Shriners Children's Open−24 (63-65-70-62=260)4 strokes Matthew Wolff

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

Web.com Tour wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
116 Jan 2018The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic−13 (69-69-72-65=275)4 strokes Carlos Ortiz
219 Aug 2018WinCo Foods Portland Open−18 (65-66-68-67=266)4 strokes John Chin

Korean Tour wins (3)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
113 Oct 2019Genesis Championship−6 (70-74-71-67=282)2 strokes Kwon Sung-yeol, Moon Kyong-jun
214 May 2023Woori Financial Group Championship−10 (71-69-70-68=278)1 stroke Jun Seok Lee
328 Apr 2024Woori Financial Group Championship (2)−11 (70-67-71-69=277)1 stroke Lee Jung-hwan, Moon Dong-hyun (a)

Korean Tour playoff record (0–1)

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order before 2019 and in 2020.

Tournament2018201920202021202220232024
Masters TournamentT2CUTT8T16CUT
PGA ChampionshipT42CUTCUTT17CUTCUT
U.S. OpenCUT22T35CUTCUTCUT
The Open ChampionshipCUTNTT81T20T7
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
0 1 0 1 2 3 5 3
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 2
0 0 0 0 0 1 6 2
0 0 0 0 1 2 4 3
Totals 0 1 0 1 3 7 21 10

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Cancelled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament2019 2020202120222023
ChampionshipT29T28
Match PlayNT1T42T35T17
InvitationalT35T46
ChampionsT11NT1NT1NT1
1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022. The Champions was discontinued from 2023.

Team appearances

Professional

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Heroics, heartbreak at Final Stage of Q-School . PGA Tour . 12 December 2017 . Adam . Stanley.
  2. Web site: Im, 19, joins company of major champion with first win . PGA Tour . Stephen . Andress . 16 January 2018.
  3. Sungjae Im defeats Collin Morikawa and Matthew Wolff for PGA Tour Rookie of the Year . Joel . Beall . Golf Digest . 11 September 2019 . 23 September 2019.
  4. Web site: Sebastián Muñoz wins Sanderson Farms Championship in playoff for first PGA Tour win . Ryan . Young . Yahoo Sports . 22 September 2019 . 22 September 2019.
  5. Presidents Cup grades: Captains, Royal Melbourne score high marks. David . Dusek . Golfweek . 15 December 2019 .
  6. News: With virus in mind, Korea's Sungjae Im wins Honda Classic, Canada's Hughes 2nd . 1 March 2020 . 1 March 2020 . Associated Press . Prince George Citizen . 1 March 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200301233003/https://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/sungjae-im-wins-honda-classic-for-1st-pga-tour-title-1.24087928 . dead .
  7. Web site: Im runs the table in Vegas victory . Canadian Press . TSN.ca . 10 October 2021 . 11 October 2021 .
  8. Presidents Cup 2022: Our grades for all 24 players, from an A+ for Spieth to an F for Scheffler . Golf Digest . Joel . Beall . 25 September 2022 . 27 September 2022.
  9. Sungjae Im flying to Korea in between Quail Hollow and the PGA to win a golf tournament is as baller as it gets . Golf Digest . Christopher . Powers . 15 May 2023 . 15 May 2023 .