Seongjae Lim hit a 4-under 66 in the final round of the PGA Tour Championship held at East Lake Golf Club (par 70) in Atlanta, Georgia, USA on the 29th (Korean time).
Seongjae Lim, who recorded a total of 20 under par 264 in four rounds, was tied for second place with Scottie Schaeffler (USA), one stroke behind the winning Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland, 21 under par 263).
Although he missed the championship, Im Seong-jae achieved the best record of a Korean in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
The best Korean FedEx Cup playoff record so far was 5th place left by Choi Kyung-ju (52) in 2007.
In the ‘War of the Stars’ Tour Championship, where only 30 players with the best performances of the season compete, Im Seong-jae also broke the highest ranking in Korean history by Kyung-joo Choi.
At the 2011 Tour Championship, Kyung-Joo Choi was unable to join overtime due to a lack of one stroke and finished tied for third place.
At that time, the play-off and FedEx Cup ranking system was different from today, and Choi Gyeong-ju placed 3rd in the Tour Championship but 11th in the FedEx Cup play-off ranking.
From 2019, the Tour Championship started with 0-10 under par according to the FedEx Cup point ranking, and the Tour Championship ranking was changed to be linked with the FedEx Cup ranking.
Im Seong-jae, who has already appeared in the Tour Championship for the fourth time, has once once more proved his ability to win a special event at any time.
Seongjae Lim won the runner-up bonus of $5.75 million (regarding 7.7 billion won).
Im Seong-jae said, “To be honest, I thought I did well even if I only finished in 5th place in this competition, but I’m very happy that I got 2nd place.”
Seongjae Lim was disappointed in the 14th hole (par 4) double bogey and 18th hole (par 5) birdie hunting failure.
After playing 4 holes in the 3rd round, Im Seong-jae, who finished the final round with a tie for 4th (16 under par 194), 7 shots behind leading Schaeffler, competed for the championship by reducing 4 strokes in the first half alone.
Seongjae Lim, who was chasing by 1 or 2 strokes, missed the green on the 14th hole (par 4) and then came up to the green following 4 strokes due to a bunker shot, and lost 2 strokes to a sudden brake.
However, Seongjae Lim made up for it by dropping a tee shot on the 15th hole (par 3) 2 meters away.
I had to be content with 2nd place as I mightn’t catch a birdie on the 18th hole (par 5), which climbed to 2nd place by one stroke with a birdie on the 17th hole (par 4).
Im Seong-jae, who started the two-on attack, had his second shot slightly off the green and into the rough, and his third shot fell longer than expected. The 5m birdie putt regretfully ignored the hole.
Regarding the double bogey on the 14th hole, Seongjae Lim said, “The tee shot was pushed to the right. From there, I went to the bunker. In the bunker, the ball was placed in a good spot, but the shot I expected did not come out. It was a mistake.”
However, Im Sung-jae looked back, saying, “It’s good to score consistently good for four days,” and “I think I’ll be able to maintain the top rank if I play like today without much greed.”
McIlroy cut four strokes in the final round to win a comeback victory with a 21-under 263.
McIlroy, who overturned a six-stroke lead and produced a double play, became the third FedEx Cup champion following 2016 and 2019. He achieved the feat of most wins in the FedEx Cup, beating out two-time winner Tiger Woods (USA).
McIlroy, who also won three Tour Championships, is now on the PGA Tour’s 22nd win streak.
McIlroy won a huge prize money of 18 million dollars (regarding 24.1 billion won) at once.
McIlroy took home $26.7 million in prize money this season. This is a new record for the most prize money in a PGA Tour season.
Most of all, it was a more meaningful win for McIlroy, who had to focus more energy off the course while at the forefront of the fight once morest LIV Golf.
As if conscious of LIV Golf, he emphasized at the awards ceremony, “The two best golf players in the world competed for the championship on the world’s best tour. I believe in the players playing on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour.
McIlroy said, “I learned from watching Kim Joo-hyung,” following hitting 3-under 67 on the first hole in the first round of the tournament.
Kim Joo-hyung lost four shots on the first hole of the first round at the Wyndham Championship earlier this month, but made up for it with seven birdies and eventually won.
McIlroy, who played with Schaeffler in the final round with 6 shots behind Schaeffler, started with a twist on the 1st hole (par 4) bogey, but followed Schaeffler as a birdie on the 5th to 7th holes following the 3rd hole (par 4) bogey. stuck
Schaeffler was in trouble and lost three strokes to the 6th hole, allowing Seongjae Lim and McIlroy to pursue.
McIlroy, who took the lead with a birdie on the 12th (par 4), faltered with a bogey on the 14th (par 4), but regained the lead with a birdie on the 5th (par 3) and Schaeffler’s bogey on the 16th (par 4). took the lead alone with
On the 18th hole (par 5), which took the lead by one stroke, the birdie putt slightly missed the hole, but Schaeffler might not reduce the number of strokes, so McIlroy’s victory was confirmed.
Schaeffler, who cut four strokes only in the remaining three rounds before the fourth round, hit a 3-over par 73 and suffered a painful comeback loss.
It is the first time in five years since Dustin Johnson (USA) at the 2017 HSBC Championship by six strokes on the last day of the PGA Tour.
Schaeffler, who took the first place in the world ranking with four victories including the Masters this year, did not hide his disappointment, saying, “I had a really great performance this year, and I wanted to win the last tournament nicely, but I mightn’t.”
Xander Shopley (USA), who reduced one stroke, finished fourth (18-under 268), and last year’s FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay (USA) was tied for 7th (16-under-par 272).
Kyung-hoon Lee (31), who made his first appearance in the Tour Championship, hit an even-par 70 and stayed in 27th place (1-under-par 279).
Kyung-Hoon Lee also won a considerable bonus prize of $530,000 (regarding 710 million won).
