Im Sungjae "Starting 2022~"... World No.1 Rahm vs No.2 Morikawa 'Showdown'

'Wangjungwangjeon' First Appearance of the New Year at the Sentry Tournament, English 'Title Defense', DeChambeau's '414-Yard Long Drive Show'

'Shriners Champ' Im Sung-jae is playing a practice round ahead of the Sentry Tournament.

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] It is the first outing of ‘Shriners Champ’ Im Sung-jae (24) in 2022.

On the night of the 6th (Korean time), he declared his participation in the PGA Tour Sentry Tournament (total prize money $8.2 million) opening at the Plantation Golf Course (par 73, 7,596 yards) of Kapalua Resort on Maui Island, Hawaii, USA. This tournament is especially the ‘champion of champions’ where only the 2021 champions participate. World No. 1 Jon Rahm (Spain) and No. 2 Collin Morikawa started the ‘No. 1 competition’ from the beginning of the new year, joined by ‘PO champ’ Patrick Cantlay and ‘Hulk’ Bryson DeChambeau (both USA), among others.

▲ Im Sung-jae ‘9th favorite to win’ = He secured his first victory early at the Shriners Children’s Open, which is included in the 2022 season, last November. The PGA Tour season continues immediately after the Tour Championship, the final third playoff (PO) event in September. A total of nine tournaments, with nine different champions including Taylor Gooch (USA), joined the ‘early bird’ lineup. Im Sung-jae is currently 3rd in the PO ranking with two top-10 finishes, including 9th place at the CJ Cup in four events.

Attention should be paid to the perfect compatibility between Im Sung-jae and the Plantation Course. In his first appearance in 2021, he recorded scores in the 60s for four consecutive rounds (67-68-67-69) and finished tied for 5th (21 under par, 271 strokes). He expressed confidence, saying, "This year, I will challenge for multiple wins." From Korea, Kim Si-woo (27) started at the American Express in January, and Lee Kyung-hoon (31, both CJ Logistics) started at the AT&T Byron Nelson in May as a winner.

World No. 1 Jon Rahm will face off against No. 2 Collin Morikawa in the Sentry Tournament.

▲ Rahm vs Morikawa ‘Full-scale battle’ = Rahm became the first Spanish national to win the US Open in June last year. Morikawa, despite two second-place and three third-place finishes, seems to lack wins. Above all, his runner-up finish at the Tour Championship in September was disappointing. Among 30 players, he recorded the best 14 under par but failed to overcome the ‘stroke bonus’ barrier. Rahm started as the 4th seed (7 under par) and finished with a total of 20 under par, while Cantlay, the 1st seed (10 under par), added 11 under par to win by one stroke (21 under par).

Morikawa missed the chance to leap to No. 1 at the end of the year. Starting the final day of the Hero World Challenge in December with a 5-stroke lead, he fell to a tie for 5th after a ‘4-over-par rollercoaster play,’ losing the victory he had almost secured. He is on the rise, having won two big matches: the World Golf Championships (WGC) Workday Championship in February and The Open in July, as well as the European Tour season finale DP World Tour Championship in November. His final mission is to become world No. 1.

'Hulk' Bryson DeChambeau drew the spotlight last year on the second day of the Sentry Tournament with a 414-yard long drive on the 12th hole.

▲ English ‘Title defense’, DeChambeau ‘Long drive show’ = Defending champion Harris English tied for the lead (25 under par, 267 strokes) with Joaquin Niemann (Chile) and secured his third career win in eight years with a winning birdie on the first playoff hole. Past champions like Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, and Jordan Spieth (all USA) have formidable records. Thomas, in particular, has shown strong performances in this tournament with two wins in 2017 and 2020 and third-place finishes in 2019 and 2021.

It is interesting that DeChambeau succeeded in ‘1-on’ at the 12th hole (par 4, 431 yards) during the second round last year. His tee shot flew 414 yards. Locally, the ‘veteran’ Phil Mickelson’s appearance after 21 years has become a hot topic. He set a record as the oldest major winner (51 years old) at the PGA Championship last May. With Rahm, Morikawa, Hideki Matsuyama (Masters), and other four major champions all participating, the atmosphere is heating up.

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