Sungjae Im and the "Five Under 23"... What About 19-Year-Old Young Gun Juhyung Kim?

Morikawa, Hoblyn, Wolff, Im Sung-jae, Niemann Shine, '19-Year-Old Young Gun' Kim Joo-hyung Invited to American Express Tournament

The "Five Under 23" Colin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Matthew Wolff, Im Sung-jae, and Joaquin Niemann (from left) have been showing outstanding performances since the beginning of the new year.

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] "The five under-23 players."

They are world No. 4 Collin Morikawa (USA), No. 14 Viktor Hovland (Norway), No. 15 Matthew Wolff (USA), No. 18 Im Sung-jae (23, CJ Logistics), and No. 25 Joaquin Niemann (Chile). The atmosphere is that they are also showing fierce performances from the beginning of 2021. Im Sung-jae placed 5th at the Sentry Tournament, Morikawa finished 7th in two consecutive tournaments including the Sony Open, and Niemann achieved back-to-back runner-up finishes. Golfweek USA noted, "This is the first time that five players under 23 have entered the ‘Top 25’."

Morikawa and Hovland were born in 1997, Im Sung-jae and Niemann in 1998, and Wolff in 1999. Morikawa took the lead. Turning professional in 2019, he immediately won his first title at the Barracuda Championship in July, and last year in July, he defeated Justin Thomas (USA) in a playoff at the Workday Charity Open, becoming the center of attention. The highlight was the PGA Championship in September, where he won by two strokes and early on joined the ranks of major champions.

Hovland caused a sensation by setting the amateur lowest score record (4-under 280) at the 2019 US Open, the first in 59 years. After securing his card on the Korn Ferry (second-tier) Tour, he won the Puerto Rico Open in February last year, and in December, he recorded his second win at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, which counts toward the 2021 season. It is interesting that he is a Taekwondo black belt. After seven years of training, he earned his black belt and proudly said, "Taekwondo helped strengthen my mental toughness."

Wolff won the 3M Open in July 2019. His swing is unique in that he twists his left leg just before the swing. This is to maximize ground reaction force. This directly translates into his power, producing an average driving distance of 312.6 yards. He gained even more spotlight through a swing comparison with Choi Ho-sung (47), known as the ‘fisherman swing,’ who participated as an invitee at the John Deere Classic. Niemann became the first Chilean PGA Tour champion by winning the Military Tribute in September 2019.

Sungjae Im is pushing through a "three consecutive weeks of participation" streak since the beginning of the new year.

Im Sung-jae is another ‘hidden dragon.’ He topped the Korn Ferry Tour money list in 2018, entered the PGA Tour in 2019, becoming the first Asian to win Rookie of the Year, and continued the legacy of Korean PGA Tour champions by winning the Honda Classic in March last year. Although he slowed down mid-season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he regained momentum with a 22nd place at the US Open in September and runner-up at the Masters in November. At the end of the year, he purchased a home inside the Atlanta Sugarloaf TPC and began his full-scale conquest of the PGA Tour.

Im Sung-jae’s ‘iron stamina’ stands out especially. He played 35 events in the 2019 season and 26 events in the 2020 season amid the COVID-19 impact. This year, he is on a grueling schedule, participating in the American Express (total prize money $6.7 million) starting on the night of the 21st (Korean time) for three consecutive weeks. Domestic fans are focusing their attention on the emergence of the ‘19-year-old young gun’ Kim Joo-hyung (19). Last July, he set a new milestone as the youngest champion in Korean professional golf (KPGA) history at the Gunsan CC Open at 18 years and 21 days old.