Im Sung-jae "First Victory of the New Year"… Ram's Challenge for 3 Consecutive Wins

Appearing at the PGA Tour Farmers Insurance Open on the 25th

‘Newlywed’ Im Sung-jae (photo) is making his first victory attempt of the new year. On the 25th (local time), Im Sung-jae will participate in the PGA Tour 2022/2023 season Farmers Insurance Open (total prize money $8.7 million) held at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, California, USA.

This tournament is played over the Torrey Pines South Course (par 72, 7,765 yards) and North Course (par 72, 7,258 yards) for the 1st and 2nd rounds. The 3rd and 4th rounds are played on the South Course. The schedule starts on Wednesday local time and ends on Saturday. This is to avoid the NFL Conference Championship playoff game held on Sunday.

Leading Korea is world No. 19 Im Sung-jae. He has participated in this tournament for five consecutive years since 2019. Last year, he performed well, finishing tied for 6th place. This comes at a time when he regained consistency, shooting rounds in the 60s for four consecutive days at last week’s American Express. Other Korean players participating include Sony Open winner Kim Si-woo, Kim Sung-hyun, An Byeong-hun, and Noh Seung-yul. ‘PGA crowd-puller’ Kim Joo-hyung chose to rest.

World No. 3 Jon Rahm (Spain) is a strong favorite to win. He is aiming for a third consecutive victory. His momentum is very strong, having won 4 of his last 6 tournaments. This year, he won both the Sentry Tournament of Champions (TOC) and the American Express. The prize money from these two wins alone amounts to $4.14 million (about 5.1 billion KRW).

Rahm has shown particularly strong performances at Torrey Pines. He won in 2017 and from 2019 to last year, he finished 5th, runner-up, 7th, and 3rd over four years. Rahm also won the 2021 US Open held at this course, establishing himself as the new master of Torrey Pines, once known as the stronghold of ‘Golf Emperor’ Tiger Woods (USA).

Defending champion Luke List (USA) is aiming for a second consecutive win. Last year, he defeated Will Zalatoris (USA) in a playoff. List began his full PGA Tour career in 2013 and won after a long wait of 10 years and 203 tournaments. World No. 7 Zalatoris is eager for revenge. Also listed are world No. 6 Xander Schauffele, No. 8 Collin Morikawa, and No. 9 Justin Thomas (all USA).