St. louis: Im Sung-jae has been steadily climbing the FedEx Cup points standings on the PGA Tour over the summer, setting his sights on qualifying for the first two legs of the playoffs. Now, he needs one final push this week to reach the Tour Championship for the eighth consecutive year.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Im is positioned in 40th place in the standings as he enters the BMW Championship in St. Louis. With only the top 30 players advancing to the Tour Championship in Atlanta next week, Im is acutely aware of the task ahead and is determined to succeed. "I need to at least tie for sixth place this week to get to the Tour Championship and I will keep that in mind when I play," Im stated in a video conference with South Korean media late Wednesday. He expressed his desire to extend his Tour Championship streak to an eighth straight year.
Im emphasized the importance of keeping the ball in the fairway at Bellerive Country Club, noting the challenges posed by narrow fairways and the relatively soft greens. "If I can keep hitting my second shots from the fairway, then attacking pins will not be a major problem," he noted, adding that the greens should be receptive and unlikely to cause balls to bounce off excessively.
Since his debut in 2018, Im has been one of the PGA Tour's most consistent players, holding the record for the longest Tour Championship appearance streak by a South Korean player with seven consecutive appearances. This season, however, began with challenges as he missed the first two months due to a wrist injury and spent the offseason fulfilling military training duties, having earned exemption from mandatory service by winning a gold medal at the 2023 Asian Games.
Reflecting on his limited practice time, Im acknowledged, "I probably had the least amount of practice time in my career. I barely had time to hit balls for about two to three months," but affirmed that those issues are now behind him, with his wrist fully healed.
The lack of offseason preparation perhaps contributed to Im missing the cut in his first two tournaments. However, he bounced back with a tie for fourth at the Valspar Championship in late March, followed by mixed results before achieving a top-five finish at the Truist Championship in May.
Im arrived in St. Louis buoyed by four top-15 finishes in his past five tournaments, including a tie for fifth at the FedEx St. Jude Championship last week, which secured his place at the BMW Championship. "Not too long ago, I was in danger of not even qualifying for the first playoff tournament," Im admitted, expressing satisfaction with his recent consistency and resilience.
A two-time PGA Tour winner, with his last victory in October 2021, Im also expressed a desire to end his winless streak this year. "Since we are nearing the end of the season, I will give everything I have to try to play well this week and hopefully next week as well," Im said, planning to take some time off before playing tournaments in the fall. He added, "If I can notch a win late in the season, it will be icing on the cake. But I will have to take it one tournament at a time."