Im Sung-jae (; born 30 March 1998), also known as Sungjae Im, is a South Korean professional golfer. Im won twice and was Player of the Year on the 2018 Web.com Tour. He was Rookie of the Year for the 2018–19 PGA Tour, and got his first PGA Tour victory at The Honda Classic in March 2020.
Professional career Im turned professional in 2015. In 2016 and 2017 he played on the Japan Golf Tour, his best finish being joint runner-up in the 2017 Mynavi ABC Championship. In 2017 he finished 12th in the tour money list and 5th in the scoring average. He played a number of tournaments on the Korean Tour, his best finish being joint runner-up in the 2017 T-up Gswing Mega Open.
In December 2017, Im finished second in the Web.com Tour Q-school, including a third round of 60. He won the first event of the season, The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic, becoming, at , the second youngest winner in Web.com Tour history. Only Jason Day, at , had been a younger winner. Im had three solo runner-up finishes, in The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic, the Knoxville Open and the Pinnacle Bank Championship, and finished the regular season by winning the WinCo Foods Portland Open. He led the regular season money list and was named Web.com Tour Player of the Year.
In the 2018–19 PGA Tour season, Im won the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. He became just the 13th rookie to qualify for the Tour Championship in the FedEx Cup era, ultimately finishing 19th in the standings. Im led the tour in starts (35) and cuts made (26), and his 118 rounds were 18 more than the nearest competitor. He had seven top-10s in 2019, highlighted by a T-3 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and finished 17th in strokes gained. Im joined Stewart Cink (1996–97) as the only players to be named the Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year and PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in consecutive seasons.
On 22 September 2019, Im lost the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi in a playoff to Sebastián Muñoz.
In December 2019, Im played on the International team at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. The U.S. team won 16–14. Im went 3–1–1 and won his Sunday singles match against Gary Woodland.
On 1 March 2020, Im won The Honda Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, with a final round of 66 and an overall score of −6. He finished one stroke ahead of Mackenzie Hughes, and moved to second place in the FedEx Cup standings.
In November 2020, Im finished tied for second place at the Masters Tournament; five shots behind Dustin Johnson.
On 10 October 2021, Im won the Shriners Children's Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, Nevada for his second PGA Tour title in his 100th start. Im shot a final round 9-under 62 and won by four shots over Matthew Wolff, coming from three behind at the start of the day.
Im qualified for the International team at the 2022 Presidents Cup; he won two, tied one and lost two of the five matches he played.
In May 2023, Im travelled to South Korea, the week before the PGA Championship to play in the Woori Financial Group Championship on the Korean Tour. He shot a final-round 68, including an up-and-down birdie on the final hole to win by one shot.
Professional wins (7) PGA Tour wins (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up11 Mar 2020The Honda Classic−6 (72-66-70-66=274)1 stroke Mackenzie Hughes210 Oct 2021Shriners Children's Open−24 (63-65-70-62=260)4 strokes Matthew Wolff
PGA Tour playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12019Sanderson Farms Championship Sebastián MuñozLost to par on first extra hole
Web.com Tour wins (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up116 Jan 2018The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic−13 (69-69-72-65=275)4 strokes Carlos Ortiz219 Aug 2018WinCo Foods Portland Open−18 (65-66-68-67=266)4 strokes John Chin
Korean Tour wins (3) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up113 Oct 2019Genesis Championship−6 (70-74-71-67=282)2 strokes Kwon Sung-yeol, Moon Kyong-jun214 May 2023Woori Financial Group Championship−10 (71-69-70-68=278)1 stroke Jun Seok Lee328 Apr 2024Woori Financial Group Championship (2)−11 (70-67-71-69=277)1 stroke Lee Jung-hwan, Moon Dong-hyun (a)
Korean Tour playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult12023Genesis Championship Bae Yong-jun, Park Sang-hyunPark won with eagle on second extra holeIm eliminated by birdie on first hole
Results in major championships Results not in chronological order before 2019 and in 2020. Tournament201820192020202120222023202420252026Masters TournamentT2CUTT8T16CUTT546PGA ChampionshipT42CUTCUTT17CUTCUTCUTCUTU.S. OpenCUT22T35CUTCUTCUTT57T43The Open ChampionshipCUTNTT81T20T7T52T14
CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" indicates a tie for a place NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 1 0 2 3 4 7 5PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 2U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 4The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 1 3 6 5Totals 0 1 0 2 4 9 29 16 Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (twice) Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2024 Open Championship – 2025 Masters)
Results in The Players Championship Tournament20192020202120222023202420252026The Players ChampionshipCUTCT17T55T6T31T61CUT
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place C = cancelled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Results in World Golf Championships Tournament 2019 2020202120222023ChampionshipT29T28Match PlayNT1T42T35T17InvitationalT35T46ChampionsT11NT1NT1NT1 1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
NT = No tournament "T" = Tied Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022. The Champions was discontinued from 2023.
Team appearances Professional Presidents Cup (representing the International team): 2019, 2022, 2024, 2026
See also 2018 Web.com Tour Finals graduates
References
External links