Im Sung-jae gains a ticket to Tour Championship

South Korean PGA golfer Im Sung-jae has successfully gained a ticket to the PGA Tour Championship or the final competition of the season for three consecutive years

Im recorded six birdies and one bogey by cutting five strokes off in the round four of the FedEx Cup second playoff BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland (par-72), on Monday, finishing his day in 3rd place with a 23-under 265 total.

While Im hit a record high of his career in tour playoffs, he ranked 12th at the FedEx Cup to qualify himself for the Tour Championship where only 30 top rankers are allowed to join. Since he made a debut in the tour in the season 2018-2019, he has joined the Tour Championship for three consecutive years. Former South Korean PGA golfer Choi Kyung-ju, nicknamed “Tank,” played in the Tour Championship four times but not consecutively.

Tying for 19th place at the FedEx Cup in the season 2018-2019 and finishing the season 2019-2020 as 11th place, Im will play for a higher ranking than any previous records of his career in the final round scheduled to open in Atlanta, Georgia, starting from Friday. The Tour Championship ranking allows golfers to start with a bonus stroke advantage. Im will begin with 3-under. Tying for 12th place in this competition, Lee Kyung-hoon ranked 31st at the FedEx Cup while Kim Si-woo sharing No. 29 position (12-under 276 total) ranked 34th, both of which failed to make it to the final competition.


Hong-Gu Kang windup@donga.com