[Golf Topic] World Ranking 21st Im Sungjae 'Asia Number 1'... What About McIlroy?

Im Sung-jae is walking on the green of the 2nd hole on the final day of the Charles Schwab Challenge. Fort Worth (Texas, USA) = Getty Images / Multibits

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] ○…Im Sung-jae (22, CJ Logistics) has risen to become 'Asia's Number 1'.

On the afternoon of the 15th (Korean time), he received 4.17 points in the official weekly golf world rankings, moving up two spots from 23rd last week to 21st. He earned points by finishing tied for 10th at the Charles Schwab Challenge (total prize money $7.5 million) held at Colonial Golf Club near Fort Worth, Texas, USA, which concluded that morning. This marks his sixth top-10 finish this season, following his March Honda Classic victory and third place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The world rankings had been frozen since last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic but were recalculated for the first time in about three months starting with this tournament. Im Sung-jae, who achieved his personal best ranking in history, pushed Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) down to 23rd and secured the highest position among Asian players. Among Korean players, this is the first time since K.J. Choi (50, SK Telecom) held the 'Asia No. 1' spot until late November 2012.

Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) and Jon Rahm (Spain) remain 1st and 2nd, while Justin Thomas moved up one spot to 3rd, pushing Brooks Koepka (both USA) down to 4th. Tiger Woods (USA), the 'resurrected golf emperor' who did not participate in the Charles Schwab Challenge, dropped two spots to 13th. Daniel Berger (USA), the Charles Schwab Challenge champion, soared 107 places to 31st. For Korea, Byeonghun An (29) is 52nd, and Sung-hoon Kang (33, both CJ Logistics) is 54th.

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