'Comeback King' Im Sung-jae's PGA Power... 20,000-Strong Cloud Gallery

5-Stroke Comeback Show at Woori Financial Championship
Departing for Major PGA Championship Appearance
"Asian Games Gold Medal, I Will Become Korea's Top Player"

The level was different. This is the power of ‘PGA star’ Im Sung-jae.

Im Sung-jae achieved a come-from-behind victory (10-under-par 278) at the Korean Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) Korean Tour Woori Financial Championship (total prize money 1.5 billion KRW), which concluded on the 14th at Ferrum Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province (par 72, 7,232 yards). Starting the final day tied for 4th place, 5 strokes behind, he recorded 1 eagle, 4 birdies, and 2 bogeys. Although his second shot on the final 18th hole (par 5) landed in a bunker, he made a fantastic recovery shot close to the pin and sank a precious ‘winning birdie.’ This marked his second Korean Tour victory in 3 years and 7 months since the Genesis Championship in October 2019, with a winner’s prize of 300 million KRW.

Im Sungjae is holding the trophy and taking a commemorative photo with his wife immediately after winning the Woori Financial Championship.
[Photo by KPGA]

The ‘Im Sung-jae effect’ was tremendous at this tournament. Over four days, a total of 20,148 spectators visited, setting the highest attendance for a KPGA Korean Tour event solely organized this year. Starting with 1,834 attendees on Thursday’s first round, followed by 1,844 on the second round, 5,257 on the third round, and 11,213 on the final fourth round, fans witnessed the distinctly different play of a ‘big leaguer.’ Im Sung-jae expressed, "It felt great to meet domestic fans after 3 years and 7 months. I was surprised that so many people came even on weekdays, and I personally felt that I have done well on the PGA Tour in the U.S. for four years." He added, "Seeing the gallery filled all the way behind the teeing area made me very happy," expressing his gratitude.

At the post-victory press conference, Im Sung-jae said, "It was hard to adjust to the time difference from the first day. Enduring mentally over the four days brought hope for the win," and smiled brightly, "I’m happy to have been able to win." Ranked 18th in the world and holding two PGA Tour wins, Im Sung-jae is a leading figure in Korean men’s golf. He demonstrated his ‘class’ as a representative of Korea with a fierce final-day comeback. While he overcame a 7-stroke deficit at the Genesis Championship, he succeeded in overturning a 5-stroke gap at this event.

Although bogeys on the 6th and 8th holes seemed to distance him from the title race, he changed the momentum with a birdie on the 9th hole (par 5). He then dominated the leaderboard with a birdie on the 11th hole (par 4), a 3.2-meter eagle on the 12th hole (par 5), and a birdie on the 13th hole (par 5), before sealing the victory with a 1.6-meter birdie on the 18th hole (par 5). Reflecting on the round, Im Sung-jae said, "I thought I was moving away from the win after two early bogeys today, but in the middle of the round, I realized the gap with the leader wasn’t big, so I thought ‘I can do this.’"

Im Sung-jae will head straight to the U.S. on the 15th to challenge for a major title. He will compete in the PGA Championship, the second major of the season, held at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, starting on the 18th. Im Sung-jae said, "I think I’ll have to adjust to the time difference again after returning to the U.S.," and expressed confidence, "I want to carry the momentum from this win and perform well at the PGA Championship."

He also pledged to perform well at the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games in September. He said, "The Asian Games is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Two professionals (Im Sung-jae, Kim Si-woo) and two amateurs (Jo Woo-young, Jang Yoo-bin) will participate, and the teamwork among the four is most important," adding with a smile, "I always tell Jo Woo-young and Jang Yoo-bin that ‘you guys are important.’ I definitely want to win the gold medal in the team event."

Im Sung-jae is determined to work harder to become the best. He said, "In 10 or 20 years, many Korean players better than me will come out on the PGA Tour, but until then, I want to remain the best player in Korea," and added, "I will work hard to survive on the PGA Tour."

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