Im Sung-jae has expressed a strong desire to qualify for the Tour Championship, the final event of the PGA Tour playoffs, for the eighth consecutive year.
Starting August 6, Im will compete in the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, which has a total purse of $8.5 million. This tournament marks the last event of the PGA Tour's regular season.
Since debuting on the PGA Tour in 2019, Im has participated in the Tour Championship for seven straight years. However, this year has been challenging for him. A wrist injury sustained during winter training delayed his entry into the tour, making it difficult for him to accumulate FedEx Cup points.
Currently, Im is ranked 57th in the FedEx Cup standings. While he is in a secure position to qualify for the first playoff event, the FedEx St. Jude Championship, which features the top 70 players, he must improve his ranking to advance to the second event, the BMW Championship (top 50), and the final Tour Championship (top 30).
In a video interview with domestic reporters on August 4, Im said, "This year has been tough due to injuries and starting the season late, which has made it hard to accumulate points quickly compared to other players. However, I have many good memories from the Wyndham Championship and have performed well here in the past, so I want to focus and show my best play this week."
Im has previously shown strong performances at this tournament, finishing as the runner-up in the 2021-2022 season and tied for ninth in the 2019-2020 season.
He also candidly discussed his recovery from the wrist injury and his inconsistent performance this season. "My wrist has improved a lot, and I don't have major issues when swinging now," he said. "During tough weeks, I often failed to save par in situations where I could have, leading to unnecessary bogeys. Moving forward, I plan to focus on minimizing bogeys and maintaining my score, even on challenging days."
Im has been positively influenced by the recent successes of fellow golfers Kim Joo-hyung and Yoo Hae-ran in the U.S. Kim won the Scottish Open on July 13, breaking a 33-month winless streak, while Yoo achieved back-to-back victories in major tournaments this season.
Regarding Kim, Im remarked, "It's not easy to bounce back when things aren't going well, but he has endured and overcome that period, which I think is really impressive."
He also expressed admiration for Yoo, saying, "Having seen her since she was very young, her current success feels very fresh. If given the chance, I would like to meet her in person and congratulate her again."
Looking ahead, Im plans to focus on the Presidents Cup after completing the playoff events. He will then shift his attention to the PGA Tour's Baker Hughes Classic in Yokohama, Japan, on October 8, followed by the SJM Macau Open starting on October 15. However, he noted that he cannot officially comment on plans for the fall tournaments in Korea yet.
After finishing his tournament schedule, Im will concentrate on fulfilling his military service obligations. As a gold medalist in the team event at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, he stated, "After the season ends, I will focus on completing the service hours required for my alternative military service due to the Asian Games gold medal. I have about 200 hours left, so I will concentrate on that."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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