World No.1 McIlroy: "I've Waited Long, PGA Tour~"

World's Top 5 Ranked Players Gather for Charles Schwab Challenge Opening on 11th, Korea's 'PO Ranking No.1' Im Sungjae to Compete

Number 1 Rory McIlroy has announced his participation in the PGA Tour for three consecutive weeks starting from the Charles Schwab Challenge.

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] "World stars all gathered."

This is about the Charles Schwab Challenge (total prize money $7.5 million) of the U.S. Professional Golf (PGA) Tour, opening on the 11th (Korean time). The 'Top 5' players, including world No. 1 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), No. 2 Jon Rahm (Spain), No. 3 Brooks Koepka, No. 4 Justin Thomas, and No. 5 Dustin Johnson (all from the U.S.), are all participating, making it big news at once. The PGA Tour introduced on the 1st, "This is the first time since 1986 that all 'Top 5' players are participating in this tournament."

The starting point is the resumption of the 2020 season after three months since the first round of The Players Championship, known as the '5th Major,' in March. All schedules were completely suspended due to the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the U.S. Expanding the range to the top 20 in the world rankings, as many as 15 players have entered. The 'no-audience game' will be held at Colonial Golf Club (par 70, 7,000 yards) near Fort Worth, Texas.

McIlroy has declared participation in three consecutive weeks, including the RBC Heritage (total prize money $7.1 million) on the 18th and the Travelers Championship (total prize money $7.4 million) on the 25th. His caddie, Harry Diamond, also entered the U.S. early on the 24th of last month, considering the '2-week self-quarantine.' Kevin Na (U.S.) is defending his title, and past champions such as Jordan Spieth (U.S.) in 2016 and Justin Rose (England) in 2018 are looking for opportunities.

Domestic fans are naturally focused on Im Sung-jae (22, CJ Logistics). He achieved his first PGA Tour victory at the Honda Classic in March and caused a sensation by taking 3rd place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational the following week, securing the No. 1 spot in the Playoff (PO) rankings. He has been preparing for this tournament while staying in Tampa, Florida. Recently, he is teaming up again with Alvin Choi, who collaborated with him on the Honda Classic victory, to challenge maintaining the 'No. 1 PO ranking.'

'PO Ranking No.1' Im Sung-jae has announced his participation in the Charles Schwab Challenge.

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