Top 10 Finish! How Im Sung-jae’s Performance at the Valspar Championship Boosts His Rankings

Sungjae Im / Photo: Getty Images

[Sports Today reporter Seo-young Shin] Sungjae Im, who recorded his first top-10 of the PGA Tour season, climbed to No. 67 in the world rankings.

Im jumped 15 places to No. 67 in the men’s world golf rankings released on March 23 (Korean time), up from No. 82 a week earlier.

Im finished tied for fourth at the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship, posting 8-under 276 alongside Xander Schauffele (USA) and Marco Penge (England) at the Copperhead Course (par 71) at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, Florida, a tournament played March 20–23.

Im led solo through the first three rounds and looked poised for a wire-to-wire victory and his third PGA Tour title, but he dropped three shots on the final day and settled for a tie for fourth.

Still, it was Im’s first top-10 of the season. He missed events in January and February because of a wrist injury and opened his season earlier this month at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

He missed the cut at both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and THE PLAYERS Championship, failing to record an under-par round in four rounds across those two starts, but he bounced back at this week’s event.

Among Korean players, Si-woo Kim remained the highest-ranked at No. 29.

Joo-hyung Kim rose four spots to No. 123, while Byeong-hun An fell six places to No. 129.

Sung Hyun Kim, who tied for seventh at the Valspar Championship, climbed from 157th to 138th.

There were also minor shifts at the top of the rankings.

Scottie Scheffler (USA) held the No. 1 spot, followed by Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland).

Cameron Young (USA) jumped to third, Tommy Fleetwood (England) dropped to fourth, and Xander Schauffele (USA) moved up two places to fifth.

Matt Fitzpatrick (England), who won the Valspar Championship at 11-under 273, surged from 15th to sixth.

[Sports Today reporter Seo-young Shin sports@stoo.com]
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