Sungjae Im 12th "So Close, Top 10 Entry"..."FedEx Cup Ranking 10th → 11th"

Sungjae Im FedEx Cup PO Round 1 St. Jude Championship FR 2 Under Par 12th Place
Zalatoris Wins 3rd Sudden Death Playoff Over Straka 'Takes PO 1st Place'
Korea: Juhyung Kim Tied 13th, Kyunghoon Lee Tied 20th, Siwoo Kim Tied 42nd

Im Sung-jae is teeing off on the 7th hole on the final day of the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Memphis (USA) = Photo by Getty Images / Multibits

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] Im Sung-jae (24) failed to enter the ‘Top 10’.

On the 14th (local time), at Southwind TPC (Par 70, 7,243 yards) near Memphis, Tennessee, USA, the final day of the first round of the PGA Tour FedEx Cup Playoffs (PO), the FedEx St. Jude Championship (total prize money $15 million), Im added 2 under par to finish 12th (10 under par 270). He aimed for his ninth ‘Top 10’ finish this season but fell short by one stroke. His FedEx Cup ranking dropped one spot from 10th to 11th.

Starting from a tie for 8th place, 4 strokes behind, Im recorded 2 birdies and 1 bogey. After a birdie on the 2nd hole and a bogey on the 5th hole (both par 4s), he struggled to reduce his score further. He maintained par for 10 holes before adding a birdie on the 16th hole (par 5). He relied on his ‘piercing iron shots’ with a maximum drive of 347 yards and a green hit rate of 83.33%. However, his putting average of 1.867 per hole was disappointing. Im will compete in the PO second round BMW Championship (total prize money $15 million), which features only 70 players, starting on the 18th.

Will Zalatoris (USA) shot 4 under par to tie with Sepp Straka (Austria) at 15 under par 265, then recorded a ‘winning bogey’ on the third playoff hole following the 11th hole (par 3). This marked his first career victory after four runner-up finishes, including second place at this year’s major PGA Championship and the US Open. He received a winner’s prize of $2.7 million (3.5 billion KRW) and rose from 12th to 1st in the FedEx Cup rankings.

Straka, who became the first Austrian to win a PGA event at the Honda Classic in February, hoped for his second win of the season in six months but settled for runner-up. Lucas Glover and Brian Harman tied for 3rd place (12 under par 268), while defending champion Tony Finau, along with Collin Morikawa (both USA), Jon Rahm (Spain), and Adam Scott (Australia), tied for 5th place (11 under par 269).

From Korea, last week’s Wyndham Championship winner Kim Joo-hyung (20) recorded 3 birdies and 1 double bogey for 1 under par, finishing tied for 13th (9 under par 271). Kim’s FedEx Cup ranking rose from 34th to 25th. Lee Kyung-hoon (31) exchanged 2 birdies for 2 bogeys, finishing tied for 20th (8 under par 272). Kim Si-woo (27) improved by 2 strokes but only managed a tie for 42nd (5 under par 275). J.J. Spaun (USA), who was the leader the previous day, fell to this group after a poor 8 over par round.