Im Sung-jae, 28, of CJ will not appear at the Tour Championship this year, the final event of the PGA Tour playoffs, after reaching it for seven straight years.
Im shot a 1-over-par 71 in the fourth round of the BMW Championship, the second playoff event with a total purse of $20 million, held on the 23rd local time at Bellerive Country Club (par 70) in St. Louis, Missouri. He made one eagle and one birdie but committed four bogeys. With a final total of 8-under-par 272, Im finished tied for 10th alongside Michael Brannon of the United States.
The result marked Im's fifth top-10 finish of the season and lifted his FedEx Cup ranking to 37th from 40th. But he failed to break into the top 30 and did not earn a ticket to the Tour Championship. To advance to the final event, he needed at least a solo 7th-place finish in the second playoff event, but he fell short in the end. His streak of consecutive Tour Championship appearances, which had continued since his PGA Tour debut in the 2018-2019 season, also ended at seven years.
The tournament began promisingly. After opening in a tie for 12th on the first day, Im surged with a 6-under-par in the second round to climb to a tie for 4th, raising hopes of reaching the final event. At that point, his projected FedEx Cup ranking was 28th. But in the third round, where the ranking battle intensified, he failed to lower his score and finished at even par, dropping to 7th, which carried over as pressure in the fourth round.
On this day, Im showed signs of wavering from early in the play. After hitting his second shot into the water for a bogey on the 2nd hole (par 4), he made consecutive bogeys on the 5th (par 4) and 6th holes (par 3), losing three strokes. He then holed his third shot from the rough near the green on the 8th hole (par 5) for an eagle, pumping his fist. But over the back nine, he traded one birdie for one bogey and could not lower his score any further before finishing.
Im had struggled in the FedEx Cup points race after starting his season only in March, having injured his wrist during training in Korea early in the year. But he lifted his ranking by finishing within the top 15 in three of four events, starting with a tie for 14th at the major championship, The Open, in July through the Wyndham Championship, the last event of the regular season. Entering the first playoff event ranked 53rd, he finished tied for 5th to climb to 40th and advanced to the second playoff event, but he could not clear the final hurdle and closed out a disappointing year.
