Sungjae Im "4th in Virtual Match Play"... Ram 'Champion'

PGA Tour Suspended Completely Due to 'COVID-19', Del Technologies Proceeding Based on Expert Predictions and Fan Votes

[Asia Economy Golf Specialist Reporter Kim Hyun-jun] "Virtual Match Play 4th Place."

'PO Ranking No.1' Im Sung-jae (22, CJ Logistics, photo) ranked 4th in the virtual World Golf Championships (WGC) Series Dell Technologies Match Play held on the 30th (Korean time). The PGA Tour has recently suspended all tournaments until mid-May due to the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States. To generate interest through expert predictions and add a 'popularity vote' element, fan voting was included.

The Dell Technologies Match Play, originally scheduled to open on the 25th at Austin Golf Club in Texas, USA, was used as the stage. This tournament is famous for its unique format where 64 players are divided into 16 groups like the World Cup in soccer, playing three group league matches, and then the top player from each group advances to the round of 16, proceeding in a survival game format to determine the winner. Kevin Kisner (USA) defeated Matt Kuchar (USA) by 3 holes last year to become the 'Match King.'

Im Sung-jae achieved three consecutive wins in the group league against Justin Rose and Matt Wallace (both England), and Bubba Watson (USA). It is noteworthy that his status has changed. He secured his first PGA Tour victory at the Honda Classic earlier this month, and with a 3rd place finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational the following week, he immediately took over the FedEx Cup (PO) points ranking No.1. As of the 31st, he is 2nd in the money ranking ($3,862,000) and 23rd in the world ranking.

In the round of 16 against Collin Morikawa (USA), he recorded a draw but won the fan vote, which acted as an overtime, 56%-44%, and easily passed the quarterfinals against Adam Scott (Australia). Scott notably defeated Tiger Woods (USA) in the round of 16. It is regrettable that Im Sung-jae was stopped in the semifinals by 'No. 2' Jon Rahm (Spain) with a 4-7 loss. In the 3rd and 4th place match, he also lost 2-8 to 'No. 12' Xander Schauffele (USA), finishing in 4th place.

Rahm defeated Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) 6-5 in the final to claim the championship. However, in the fan vote, McIlroy had an overwhelming lead with 81% (Rahm 19%). McIlroy swept 3 wins last year and won the 'PO final 3rd round' Tour Championship in August, hitting a '15 million dollar (1.83 billion KRW) jackpot.' In the 2020 season, he also demonstrated destructive power by finishing in the 'top 5' in all six tournaments, including the HSBC Champions victory.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.