Im Sung-jae
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 | |||||
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Personal information | |||||
Born | Jeju Island, South Korea | 30 March 1998||||
Nationality | |||||
Career | |||||
Turned professional | 2015 | ||||
Current tour(s) | PGA Tour | ||||
Former tour(s) | Japan Golf Tour Web.com Tour | ||||
Professional wins | 4 | ||||
Highest ranking | 20 (21 June 2020)[1] (as of 16 August 2020) | ||||
Number of wins by tour | |||||
PGA Tour | 1 | ||||
Korn Ferry Tour | 2 | ||||
Other | 1 | ||||
Best results in major championships | |||||
Masters Tournament | DNP | ||||
PGA Championship | T42: 2018 | ||||
U.S. Open | CUT: 2018 | ||||
The Open Championship | CUT: 2019 | ||||
Achievements and awards | |||||
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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.[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 the 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 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]
Professional wins (4)
PGA Tour wins (1)
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 |
PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)
No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2019 | Sanderson Farms Championship | Lost to par on first extra hole |
Web.com Tour wins (2)
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 | |
2 | 19 Aug 2018 | WinCo Foods Portland Open | −18 (65-66-68-67=266) | 4 strokes |
Korean Tour wins (1)
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runners-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 13 Oct 2019 | Genesis Championship | −6 (70-74-71-67=282) | 2 strokes |
Results in major championships
Results not in chronological order before 2019 and in 2020.
Tournament | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | |||
PGA Championship | T42 | CUT | CUT |
U.S. Open | CUT | ||
The Open Championship | CUT | NT |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Results in The Players Championship
Tournament | 2019 |
---|---|
The Players Championship | CUT |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
Results in World Golf Championships
Tournament | 2019 | 2020 |
---|---|---|
Championship | T29 | |
Match Play | NT1 | |
Invitational | T35 | |
Champions | T11 |
1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied
Team appearances
Professional
- Presidents Cup (representing the International team): 2019
See also
References
- "Week 25 2020 Ending 21 Jun 2020" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- 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. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
External links
- Im Sung-jae at the PGA Tour official site
- Im Sung-jae at the Japan Golf Tour official site
- Im Sung-jae at the European Tour official site
- Im Sung-jae at the Korean Tour official site (in Korean)
- Im Sung-jae at the Official World Golf Ranking official site