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.
| Im Sung-jae | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | 30 March 1998 Cheongju, South Korea | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg) | ||||||||
| Sporting nationality |  South Korea | ||||||||
| Career | |||||||||
| College | Korea National Sport University | ||||||||
| Turned professional | 2015 | ||||||||
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour Korean Tour | ||||||||
| Former tour(s) | European Tour Japan Golf Tour Web.com Tour | ||||||||
| Professional wins | 7 | ||||||||
| Highest ranking | 16 (7 February 2021)[1] (as of 17 November 2024) | ||||||||
| Number of wins by tour | |||||||||
| PGA Tour | 2 | ||||||||
| Korn Ferry Tour | 2 | ||||||||
| Other | 3 | ||||||||
| Best results in major championships | |||||||||
| Masters Tournament | T2: 2020 | ||||||||
| PGA Championship | T17: 2021 | ||||||||
| U.S. Open | 22nd: 2020 | ||||||||
| The Open Championship | T7: 2024 | ||||||||
| Achievements and awards | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Medal record | |||||||||
Professional career
editIm 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.[2] He won the first event of the season, The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic, becoming, at 19 years, 292 days, the second youngest winner in Web.com Tour history. Only Jason Day, at 19 years, 238 days, had been a younger winner.[3] 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.[4]
On 22 September 2019, Im lost the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi in a playoff to Sebastián Muñoz.[5]
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.[6]
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.[7]
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.[8]
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.[9]
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.[10]
Professional wins (7)
editPGA Tour wins (2)
edit| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 Mar 2020 | The Honda Classic | −6 (72-66-70-66=274) | 1 stroke |  Mackenzie Hughes
|
| 2 | 10 Oct 2021 | Shriners Children's Open | −24 (63-65-70-62=260) | 4 strokes |  Matthew Wolff
|
PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2019 | Sanderson Farms Championship |  Sebastián Muñoz
|
Lost to par on first extra hole |
Web.com Tour wins (2)
edit| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 Jan 2018 | The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic | −13 (69-69-72-65=275) | 4 strokes |  Carlos Ortiz
|
| 2 | 19 Aug 2018 | WinCo Foods Portland Open | −18 (65-66-68-67=266) | 4 strokes | John Chin
|
Korean Tour wins (3)
edit| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 Oct 2019 | Genesis Championship | −6 (70-74-71-67=282) | 2 strokes | Kwon Sung-yeol, Moon Kyong-jun
|
| 2 | 14 May 2023 | Woori Financial Group Championship | −10 (71-69-70-68=278) | 1 stroke |  Jun Seok Lee
|
| 3 | 28 Apr 2024 | Woori 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)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponents | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2023 | Genesis Championship | Bae Yong-jun, Park Sang-hyun
|
Park won with eagle on second extra hole Im eliminated by birdie on first hole |
Results in major championships
editResults not in chronological order before 2019 and in 2020.
| Tournament | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T2 | CUT | T8 | T16 | CUT | ||
| PGA Championship | T42 | CUT | CUT | T17 | CUT | CUT | |
| U.S. Open | CUT | 22 | T35 | CUT | CUT | CUT | |
| The Open Championship | CUT | NT | T81 | T20 | T7 |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
edit| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| Totals | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 21 | 10 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (2021 PGA – 2022 Masters)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times, current)
Results in The Players Championship
edit| Tournament | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | CUT | C | T17 | T55 | T6 | T31 |
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
edit| Tournament | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Championship | T29 | T28 | |||
| Match Play | NT1 | T42 | T35 | T17 | |
| Invitational | T35 | T46 | |||
| Champions | T11 | NT1 | NT1 | NT1 | |
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
editProfessional
- Presidents Cup (representing the International team): 2019, 2022, 2024
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Week 6 2021 Ending 7 Feb 2021" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- ^ Stanley, Adam (12 December 2017). "Heroics, heartbreak at Final Stage of Q-School". PGA Tour.
- ^ Andress, Stephen (16 January 2018). "Im, 19, joins company of major champion with first win". PGA Tour.
- ^ Beall, Joel (11 September 2019). "Sungjae Im defeats Collin Morikawa and Matthew Wolff for PGA Tour Rookie of the Year". Golf Digest. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
- ^ Young, Ryan (22 September 2019). "Sebastián Muñoz wins Sanderson Farms Championship in playoff for first PGA Tour win". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
- ^ Dusek, David (15 December 2019). "Presidents Cup grades: Captains, Royal Melbourne score high marks". Golfweek.
- ^ "With virus in mind, Korea's Sungjae Im wins Honda Classic, Canada's Hughes 2nd". Prince George Citizen. Associated Press. 1 March 2020. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- ^ "Im runs the table in Vegas victory". TSN.ca. Canadian Press. 10 October 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
- ^ Beall, Joel (25 September 2022). "Presidents Cup 2022: Our grades for all 24 players, from an A+ for Spieth to an F for Scheffler". Golf Digest. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ^ Powers, Christopher (15 May 2023). "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. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
External links
edit- Sungjae Im at the PGA Tour official site
- Sung-jae Im at the Japan Golf Tour official site
- Sungjae Im at the European Tour official site
- Im Sung-jae at the Korean Tour official site (in Korean)
- Sungjae Im at the Official World Golf Ranking official site