Sungjae Im 6th "Third Top 10~"... Scheffler Wins Second Consecutive Title

Sungjae Im Finishes 2 Under Par on Final Day of WM Phoenix Open
Schauffele Hits 4.5 Billion Won Jackpot... 'Takes Number 1 Spot'

‘Newlywed’ Im Sung-jae finishes in the ‘Top 10’.

On the 12th (local time), Im Sung-jae finished tied for 6th place (11-under 273) by shooting 2-under in the final round of the PGA Tour’s ‘premier match’ WM Phoenix Open (total prize money $20 million) held at TPC Scottsdale (par 71, 7,261 yards) in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. This marks his third ‘Top 10’ finish of the 2022/2023 season, following a 7th place at the Shriners Children’s Open last October and a tie for 4th at the Farmers Insurance Open last month.

Im Sung-jae

Starting the final round tied for 6th place, 4 strokes behind the leader, Im Sung-jae made 3 birdies (1 bogey). He raised expectations for a comeback victory by making ‘stepping stone birdies’ on holes 1 and 3, but then went through a tedious stretch of pars over the next 9 holes. His momentum was halted by a bogey on the 13th hole (par 5), but he was satisfied with adding a birdie on the 16th hole (par 3). Im Sung-jae will challenge for the title again at the Genesis Invitational (total prize money $20 million) starting on the 16th.

World No. 2 Scottie Scheffler (USA) surged with a 6-under round to secure a 2-stroke victory (19-under 265). This is his fifth career win, coming 10 months after winning the Masters Tournament last April, with a winner’s prize of $3.6 million (approximately 4.5 billion KRW). Scheffler, who was Rookie of the Year in the 2019/2020 season and rose to world No. 1 after winning the Masters Tournament last year, successfully defended his title at this event, overtaking world No. 1 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) to reclaim the ‘Number 1’ spot.

Nick Taylor (Canada) finished 2nd (17-under 267), world No. 3 Jon Rahm (Spain) was 3rd (14-under 270), and Justin Thomas (USA) placed 4th (13-under 271). Rickie Fowler (USA) recorded a hole-in-one on the 7th hole (par 3) and finished tied for 10th (10-under 274). Meanwhile, McIlroy finished tied for 32nd (4-under 280).

Korea’s Kim Si-woo added 1-under to finish tied for 23rd (6-under 278). 2021 runner-up Lee Kyung-hoon also improved by 1 stroke to finish tied for 42nd (2-under 282). ‘PGA crowd-puller’ Kim Joo-hyung lost 2 strokes with 3 birdies, 2 bogeys, and 1 triple bogey, dropping to tied for 50th (1-under 283).

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