For the fifth consecutive year, Sungjae Lim has qualified for the final Tour Championship of the PGA Tour Playoffs.
The South Korean shot a 2-under 68 in the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship ($20 million), the first round of the PGA TOUR Playoffs, at TPC Southwind (par-70) in Memphis, Tennessee, on Thursday (July 14) to finish tied for sixth at 11-under 269.
While he didn’t pull off the upset he was hoping for, Lim improved his FedExCup ranking from No. 32 to No. 28 and kept his Tour Championship hopes alive.
The Tour Championship is open to players ranked in the top 30 of the FedExCup standings.
Playing in the Tour Championship is not only a symbolic sign of a successful season on the PGA Tour, but it also has many practical benefits, such as a generous playoff bonus and a guaranteed spot in an exclusive event the following year.
Lim was named to the Tour Championship field for four consecutive years from 2019 to last year, and he earned $5.75 million in bonus money for finishing runner-up to Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) at last year’s Tour Championship.
The 30-man field for the Tour Championship will be determined by the FedExCup standings at the conclusion of the BMW Championship, the second round of the playoffs, which begins on Sept. 18.
Lim, who said qualifying for the Tour Championship was his biggest goal heading into the event, will be able to qualify for the Tour Championship for the fifth straight year if he finishes in the top 30 and does not finish lower in the BMW Championship.
Entering the final round in a tie for sixth place, five strokes behind leader Lucas Glover (USA), Lim had a somewhat disappointing final round.
He opened with back-to-back birdies at the second (par-4) and third (par-5) holes, but then went on a frustrating 15-hole par drought from the fourth to the 18th.
All six bogeys were saved by pars, but 10 of his 12 birdie putts left the hole.
Notably, he missed a 1-meter birdie putt on the 16th (par-5).
A lightning strike that halted play for more than an hour may have dulled her putting touch.
Kim dropped two strokes and is tied for 16th at 9-under 271. He moved from No. 18 to No. 17 in the FedExCup standings and is now within striking distance of qualifying for the Tour Championship.
Joo Hyung Kim struggled with a 2-over-par 72. Bogeys on the fourth and fifth holes, as well as the seventh and ninth, hurt.
After finishing tied for 24th (7-under 273), Kim dropped from 14th to 18th in the FedExCup standings, but his path to the Tour Championship remains unhindered.
Byung-hoon Ahn, who also lost two strokes and finished tied for 37th (5-under 275), dropped one spot from 37th to 38th in the FedExCup standings. At the BMW Championship, it’s all about momentum.
Im, Sung-jae Kim, Si-woo Kim, Joo-hyung Kim and Byung-hun Ahn secured spots in the 50-man BMW Championship.
Glover, a 43-year-old veteran, edged out world No. 4 Patrick Cantlay (USA) in a playoff.
Glover, who entered the playoffs in dramatic fashion after winning the Wyndham Championship at the end of the regular season, swept the first round of the playoffs to capture his second straight victory in the final round of the season. Six career wins.
Glover, who jumped from 112th to 49th in the FedExCup standings after winning the Wyndham Championship, moved up to No. 4.
Glover, who entered the final round with a share of the lead, needed just one stroke to finish at 15-under 265, the same as Cantlay, who shot a 6-under 64.
The momentum seemed to be in Cantlay’s favor, but the match was cut short when Cantlay put his tee shot into a pond on the left side of the fairway.
Cantlay got to the green in three, but couldn’t make the 7-meter par putt.
Glover got his ball on the green in two and comfortably made par to secure the win.
Glover, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, has won three of his six titles after the age of 40.
It’s been five years since Tiger Woods won a playoff event over the age of 40 in 2018.
Glover’s remarkable late surge was largely due to a noticeable improvement in his green play after switching to a long, broomstick-like broomstick putter.
Once again, he sank a putt that could have cost him a shot. He made a 7-meter par putt on the 13th (par-4) and a 10-meter bogey putt on the 14th (par-3).
“I embraced the change quickly,” he said, adding that “you have to work hard to be successful.”
“If you told me three months ago that I was having this kind of success, I would have been called crazy,” Glover said, adding, “You have to believe in yourself no matter how bad things are.”
Cantlay had to settle for moving from 13th to fifth in the FedExCup standings.
McIlroy, who earned an $18 million playoff bonus for winning last year’s Tour Championship, shot a 5-under 65 to finish the first round in a three-way tie for third (14-under 266) with Tommy Fleetwood (England).
McIlroy maintained his No. 3 spot in the FedExCup standings, while Fleetwood jumped from No. 26 to No. 10 to secure his spot in the Tour Championship.
Yon Rahm (Spain), who finished the regular season atop the FedExCup standings, finished tied for 37th (5-under par 275) but retained the top spot.
The field for the second round of the 50-player playoff was a mixed bag.
Tied for 16th (9-under par 271), Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) jumped from 57th to 47th in the FedExCup Rankings to earn a spot in the second round.
Cam Davies (AUS), who tied for sixth and moved from 62nd to 45th in the FedExCup Rankings, was also celebrating.
Nick Hardy (USA) and Mackenzie Hughes (CAN), 먹튀검증토토사이트 who were both ranked in the top 50 prior to the event, fell outside the top 50 and will not play in the second round.