![\"Sungjae](\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Sungjae-Im.jpg\")
Eight of Asia\u2019s most talented golfers, led by Korea\u2019s rising star Sungjae Im, have qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs, earning a shot at winning the PGA TOUR\u2019s biggest prize which comes with a bumper US$15 million bonus payday.<\/p>\n
The 21-year-old Im, who won the money list on the Korn Ferry Tour last season, enters this week\u2019s THE NORTHERN TRUST at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey as the highest ranked Asian in 23rd position on the FedExCup points list following his seventh top-10 of the season at the Wyndham Championship which concluded on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Four other Koreans – Sung Kang, Si Woo Kim, Byeong Hun An and KH Lee – have also made their way into the three-leg FedExCup Playoffs, dubbed \u201cUltimate August\u201d, by virtue of being in the top-125 of the points list.<\/p>\n
Kang, who won the AT&T Byron Nelson in May for his maiden PGA TOUR title, starts the week in 29th position, followed by Kim in 45th place after he finished fifth at the Wyndham Championship which ended a run of poor form in which he missed nine cuts in his last 10 starts.<\/p>\n
An, 27, will enter the Playoffs in solid form as well after finishing third on Sunday where he challenged for his first PGA TOUR win. His third top-10 of the season moved him up from 82nd to 57th position on the points list while Lee will start the FedExCup Playoffs in 104th position.<\/p>\n
Japan\u2019s Hideki Matsuyama will begin the week in 30th place while Chinese Taipei\u2019s C.T. Pan, victorious at the RBC Heritage in April, is four rungs below, followed by Thailand\u2019s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who will start the Playoffs in 76th position in what is his first full year on the PGA TOUR.<\/p>\n
The top-70 after THE NORTHERN TRUST will qualify for next week\u2019s BMW Championship before the top-30 make it to the Playoffs finale, the TOUR Championship, where the winner will bag US$15 million.<\/p>\n
Making his 32nd start of the season, Im has proven himself on the game\u2019s biggest stage where he has also become part of the conversation to make the International Team for the Presidents Cup against the United States in Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Australia in December.<\/p>\n
International Team Captain\u2019s assistant Mike Weir played the opening two rounds with Im last week and was thoroughly impressed by the young Korean. \u201cI love his game,\u201d Weir said. \u201cIt was great to get paired with him. We have an eye on him for the Presidents Cup; Ernie (Els) and I were texting about it for 10 minutes, back and forth. What\u2019d you think? And all that stuff.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got all the talent in the world, hits all the shots,\u201d Weir added. \u201cHe chips well, he putts great. He\u2019s going to be a force to be reckoned with. He\u2019s trending in the right direction, and I\u2019m sure that\u2019s what Ernie wants is guys that are playing well. He\u2019s not one of the bombers, but he\u2019s in the mid to upper range like Rickie Fowler. He still hits it plenty far. He\u2019s got a really mature head, has a good guy on the bag. I\u2019ve had my eye on him for quite a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
An, a former U.S. Amateur champion, was disappointed to finish third in his chase for a first PGA TOUR win where he led or co-led on all three days before being overtaken by winner J.T. Poston who shot a closing 62.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, it was disappointing, especially the last couple holes,\u201d said An, who is playing in his third full season on the PGA TOUR where he finished 42nd in the final FedExCup standings last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cFinishing third is like the best finish here, so a lot of positives taken from this week. The Playoffs, the points could triple, so that’s where my focus needs to be right now and just trying to forget about what I’ve done this week and keep this good – well, semi solid ball-striking this week. So need to take the positives from this week and take it into the Playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amongst those who failed the make the top-125 included India\u2019s Anirban Lahiri (178th) and Korean duo Whee Kim (190th) and Sangmoon Bae (205th).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Eight of Asia\u2019s most talented golfers, led by Korea\u2019s rising star Sungjae Im, have qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs, earning a shot at winning the PGA TOUR\u2019s biggest prize which comes with a bumper US$15 million bonus payday.<\/p>\n
The 21-year-old Im, who won the money list on the Korn Ferry Tour last season, enters this week\u2019s THE NORTHERN TRUST at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey as the highest ranked Asian in 23rd position on the FedExCup points list following his seventh top-10 of the season at the Wyndham Championship which concluded on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Four other Koreans – Sung Kang, Si Woo Kim, Byeong Hun An and KH Lee – have also made their way into the three-leg FedExCup Playoffs, dubbed \u201cUltimate August\u201d, by virtue of being in the top-125 of the points list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf-golf"],"yoast_head":"\n