Tied for Sixth Place in First Round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship
A Move Up to 45th in FedEx Cup Standings if This Position Holds
Scheffler 17th, Kim Joohyung 26th, Kim Siwoo 37th
Sungjae Im has set out to move up the FedEx Cup rankings.
On August 14 (Korean time), at TPC Southwind (par 70) in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, he recorded seven birdies and three bogeys in the first round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first event of the PGA Tour FedEx Cup Playoffs, which has a total prize fund of USD 20 million. With a 4-under 66, Im finished the day tied for sixth place alongside Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), Tommy Fleetwood (England), and others. Five players, including Jordan Spieth and Michael Kim (both from the United States), are tied for the lead at 5-under 65.
Sungjae Im is putting on the 7th hole of the first round at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Memphis=AFP Yonhap News
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Im is currently ranked 53rd in the FedEx Cup standings, and if he maintains this position, he will move up to 45th place. This ranking makes him eligible for the second playoff event, the BMW Championship, which is limited to the top 50 players. From 2019 through last year, Im advanced to the season-ending Tour Championship—which admits only the top 30 players—seven consecutive times.
Im picked up birdies on holes 3, 5, and 6, but had a bogey on the par-3 8th, allowing him to finish the front nine at 2-under. On the back nine, he traded two birdies and two bogeys over six holes, unable to improve his score, but then demonstrated his persistence by making back-to-back birdies at holes 16 and 17. He relied on a 100% bunker save rate and averaged 1.54 putts per hole. He is just one shot back of the leaders and is in position to contend for his third career PGA Tour victory.
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Scottie Scheffler of the United States, who is No. 1 in both the world rankings and FedEx Cup standings, shot a 2-under 68 with three birdies and one bogey, tying for 17th place with Rickie Fowler (USA) and Viktor Hovland (Norway). Kim Joo-hyung is tied for 26th at 1-under 69, while Kim Si-woo ended the round tied for 37th at even-par 70. Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, ranked No. 2 in the world, struggled, recording two birdies, four bogeys, and a double bogey for a 4-over 74, placing him 68th.
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