Im Sung-jae (; born 30 March 1998), also known as Sungjae Im, is a South Korean

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

. 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 The Japan Golf Tour () is a prominent professional golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006, it offered the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after the PGA Tour and the ...

, his best finish being joint runner-up in the 2017

Mynavi ABC Championship The was a professional golf tournament on the Japan Golf Tour. It was played at the ABC Golf Club in Katō, Hyōgo, usually in October or November. It was founded in 1971 as a Japan vs. United States team match (there was also individual prize mo ...

. In

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

he finished 12th in the tour money list and 5th in the scoring average. He played a number of tournaments on the

Korean Tour The Korean Tour is a men's professional golf tour run by the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) of South Korea. In 2011, it had total prize money of about United States dollar, US$14 million. Professional golf in Korea dates back to ...

, 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 The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. T ...

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 Jason Anthony Day (born 12 November 1987) is an Australian professional golfer. Day had early success as a professional, earning PGA Tour membership in his teens and winning an event in his third season, the HP Byron Nelson Championship. In 20 ...

, at , had been a younger winner. Im had three solo runner-up finishes, in The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic, the

Knoxville Open The Visit Knoxville Open is a golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour. It is played annually at the Holston Hills Country Club in Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. It is one of four original Tour events still played. The ''Knoxville News Sentinel'' was ...

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 The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champions ...

. He became just the 13th rookie to qualify for the

Tour Championship The Tour Championship (stylized as the TOUR Championship) is a golf tournament that is part of the PGA Tour. It has historically been one of the final events of the PGA Tour season; prior to 2007, its field consisted exclusively of the top 30 ...

in the

FedEx Cup The FedEx Cup is the championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction in 2007 marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Since its inception, the competition has been sponsored by FedEx. In 2022, the PGA Tour ...

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 The Arnold Palmer Invitational is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played each March at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge, a private golf resort owned since 1974 by Arnold Palmer in Bay Hill, a suburb southwest of Orlando, Florid ...

, and finished 17th in strokes gained. Im joined

Stewart Cink Stewart Ernest Cink (born May 21, 1973) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He won the 2009 Open Championship, defeating Tom Watson in a four-hole aggregate playoff. He spent over 40 weeks in the top 10 of the Official ...

(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 Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

in a playoff to Sebastián Muñoz. In December 2019, Im played on the International team at the

2019 Presidents Cup The 2019 Presidents Cup was the 13th edition of the Presidents Cup golf competition, held at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Victoria, from 12 to 15 December 2019. Royal Melbourne previously hosted the tournament in 1998, at which t ...

Royal Melbourne Golf Club Royal Melbourne Golf Club is a 36-hole Golf Club (establishment), golf club in Australia, located in Black Rock, Victoria, Black Rock, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, a suburb in southeastern Melbourne. Its West and East courses are respectivel ...

in Australia. The U.S. team won 16–14. Im went 3–1–1 and won his Sunday singles match against

Gary Woodland Gary Lynn Woodland (born May 21, 1984) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He won the U.S. Open in 2019, his first major championship and sixth professional victory. Following a successful college career, he turned pr ...

. On 1 March 2020, Im won The Honda Classic at

PGA National Resort and Spa PGA National Resort is a resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. It has five championship 18-hole golf courses, the most famous of which is "The Champion", which has hosted the 1983 Ryder Cup, the 1987 PGA Championship, the Senior PGA Championship ...

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida Palm Beach Gardens is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County, Florida, United States, approximately 80 miles north of Miami. Palm Beach Gardens is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area. The population was 59,182 at the ...

, 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

standings. In November 2020, Im finished tied for second place at the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the ...

; five shots behind

Dustin Johnson Dustin Hunter Johnson (born June 22, 1984) is an American professional golfer. He has won two Men's major golf championships, major championships, the 2016 U.S. Open (golf), 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club with a 4-under-par score of 276 ...

. On 10 October 2021, Im won the

Shriners Children's Open The Shriners Children's Open is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Nevada. Founded in 1983, it is the fourth event of the Tour's 2019–20 wrap-around season and is played annually in October in Las Vegas. It is currently held at the TPC Su ...

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 Matthew Brandyn Wolff (born April 14, 1999) is an American professional golfer. He was an NCAA All-American at Oklahoma State University, and won the 2019 NCAA Division I individual championship. Wolff picked up his first win on the PGA Tour at ...

, 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 The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

to play in the Woori Financial Group Championship on the

. 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)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

Web.com Tour wins (2)

Korean Tour wins (3)

Korean Tour playoff record (0–1)

Results in major championships

''Results not in chronological order before 2019 and in 2020.'' CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = no tournament due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (2021 PGA – 2022 Masters) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2024 Open Championship – 2025 Masters)

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Cancelled after the first round due to the

Results in World Golf Championships

¹Cancelled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

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 The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world except Europe as that continent competes against the United States in a similar but ...

(representing the International team):

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Im, Sung-jae South Korean male golfers Japan Golf Tour golfers PGA Tour golfers Presidents Cup competitors for International Olympic golfers for South Korea Golfers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in golf Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea Golfers at the 2022 Asian Games Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games Korn Ferry Tour graduates Sportspeople from Jeju Province Sportspeople from Cheongju 1998 births Living people 21st-century South Korean sportsmen