Sungjae Im

Sungjae Im was joint runner-up in the Covid-delayed 2020 Masters at Augusta National, where he was trying to become the first debutant winner since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.

It came eight months after his maiden PGA Tour victory at the Honda Classic – he was still only 21 then – and a season after he was the circuit’s Rookie of the Year and became one of Ernie Els’s four Presidents Cup wildcards, earning a debut which saw him jointly top-score in the match with 3 ½ points out of five. His haul included a singles win over then-US Open champion Gary Woodland.

Im’s 2019 campaign also brought success in the Genesis Championship on home soil in South Korea and in October 2021 he added the Shriners Children’s Open by four strokes from Matthew Wolff.

He turned professional in 2015 and had a runner-up finish during two seasons on the Japan Tour. Im then finished second at the Web.com Tour qualifying school – with the aid of a third-round 60 – and won the opening event of their 2018 season, making him, at 19, the second-youngest champion on the circuit behind Jason Day.

His Masters performance in 2020 helped him to a career-high 16th on the world rankings. A second Presidents Cup appearance came last September and on a trip back to his home country in May he won the Woori Financial Group Championship.

More recently, Im set a new record for the most birdies (34) in a 72-hole PGA Tour event during four extraordinary rounds at The Sentry in January 2024.