PO 1st Place Cantlay vs 2nd Place Finau "175 Billion KRW Jackpot if They Win"... What About Im Sungjae?

'PO Final Game 3' Tour Championship "The Last Money War," DeChambeau and Rahm Join, Im Sung-jae Starts as 12th Seed

'PO Ranking No.1' Patrick Cantlay is aiming for the '15 million dollar jackpot' at the Tour Championship.

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] "Win and hit the $15 million (17.5 billion KRW) jackpot."

Patrick Cantlay, ranked No. 1 in the Playoff (PO) rankings, has entered the final "battle of money." The Tour Championship, the final third round of the PGA Tour PO, opens on the night of the 2nd (Korean time) at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia, USA (par 70, 7,259 yards). Second-ranked Tony Finau, third-ranked Bryson DeChambeau (both USA), fourth-ranked Jon Rahm (Spain), and fifth-ranked Cameron Smith (Australia) are all participating. Korea is represented by Im Sung-jae (23, CJ Logistics), starting at 12th place.

Cantlay secured victories at the Zozo Championship in October last year, which was part of the 2021 season, the Memorial Tournament in June, and the recently concluded PO second round, the BMW Championship (total prize $9.5 million) on the 30th of last month. It is noteworthy that he secured the No. 1 seed after a six-hole playoff battle on the final day of the BMW Championship against DeChambeau. The PGA Tour introduced a new PO system in 2019, where the No. 1 player receives a 10-under par stroke bonus.

Second place gets 8-under par, third 7-under par, fourth 6-under par, fifth 5-under par, sixth to tenth 4-under par, eleventh to fifteenth 3-under par, sixteenth to twentieth 2-under par, twenty-first to twenty-fifth 1-under par, and twenty-sixth to thirtieth even par, respectively. This means Cantlay has the greatest advantage. Dustin Johnson (USA) actually won by 3 strokes (21-under par) last year by combining his 11-under par over four days with the 10-under par advantage. On the other hand, Xander Schauffele (USA), seeded 14th (3-under par), finished as runner-up for the second consecutive year (18-under par) despite shooting 15-under par.

'PO Ranking 2nd' Tony Finau will engage in a head-to-head battle with 1st place Patrick Cantlay at the Tour Championship.

Second seed Tony Finau started at 8-under par. Finau also greatly benefited from winning the first PO event, The Northern Trust. Third seed DeChambeau urgently needs to reduce the 3-stroke gap with Cantlay early on. Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), the 2019 champion, is revisiting his successful case of winning by 4 strokes (18-under par) from the fifth seed (5-under par). The motivation is further fueled by the desire to avenge his playoff loss at the BMW Championship.

Fourth seed Jon Rahm (6-under par) is a player to watch. Following his historic US Open win in June as the first Spanish player to claim the "national title" in the US, he has been competing for victory in his last four events, including third place in the PO first round and a tie for ninth in the PO second round in July. Experts have included McIlroy among the favorites. Although he dropped to the 16th seed (2-under par), his perfect compatibility with East Lake, where he was crowned PO final champion twice in 2016 and 2019, cannot be overlooked.

Last year's champion Dustin Johnson is seeded 15th (3-under par), and Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele is seeded 17th (2-under par). Im Sung-jae is seeded 12th (3-under par); while a comeback victory is still some distance away, it is important for him to improve his ranking as much as possible. The astronomical "money seats" await, with $15 million for first place, $5 million (5.8 billion KRW) for second, $4 million (4.7 billion KRW) for third, and $830,000 (1 billion KRW) for tenth place. The lowest 30th place receives $395,000 (500 million KRW).

Sungjae Im will start as the 12th seed in the Tour Championship 'Final Playoff Round 3'.

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