From a Correspondent
Atlanta: Korean star Sungjae Im agonisingly finished tied second in a thrilling conclusion to the Tour Championship at East Lake on Sunday.
As a consolation prize, he became the best Asian finisher in FedEx Cup history and pocketed $5.75 million.
Im carded a 4-under 66 to end on 20-under, just one stroke shy of Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (67-67-63-66) who fought from six shots back on Sunday to lift an historic third FedEx Cup crown.
McIlroy, who also won the Tour’s ultimate prize in 2016 and 2019, signed for a closing 66 as third round leader Scottie Scheffler faded with a 73 for his worst score at the finale.
Xander Schauffele (69) was fourth on 18-under while Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (70) settled for tied 11th and K.H. Lee of Korea (70) finished 27th in his debut at East Lake Golf Club.
With one victory and eight other top-10s which include three runner-up finishes, Im’s earnings this season were a handsome $11.31 million.
“Honestly, my goal this week was to finish top 5, and to be finishing this high up is very unexpected, but it was a great finish and I’m glad how everything came out together,” Im (67-65-66-66) said.
“I’m very happy I was able to show consistency throughout, especially in the biggest tournament at the end of the FedEx Cup Playoffs,” said the 24-year-old.
Strong run
Faced with a seven-shot deficit entering the final 18 holes, Im turned in 32 with four birdies and a lone bogey, and then got to within one shot of the lead following a four-foot birdie conversion on 12.
A double bogey on 14 after fluffing his third shot from the greenside rough proved costly and despite birdies on 15 and 17, Im had to settle for tied second after he could only make par on the par-5 18th hole in his fourth straight appearance at the Tour Championship.
He lamented his error on 14 when the chase for the FedEx Cup was on.
“Definitely a mistake on my part. First of all, I pushed a tee shot to the right, missed the fairway, and then I was able to get it close to the green.
“But the approach shot didn’t come out as I expected. I look back and it was a mistake, but it is what it is,” said Im, who bettered compatriot K.J. Choi’s fifth place finish in 2007.
After starting his week with a triple bogey on Thursday, it proved to be a happy ending for McIlroy as he hoisted the FedEx Cup for a record third time by outduelling Scheffler and Im with six birdies against two bogeys on the card.
Biggest comeback
It was also the largest final round comeback in Tour Championship history as he earned $18 million.
The 33-year-old McIlroy, who now owns 22 PGA Tour titles, said: “What a week, what a day. There’s one thing I want to say, I feel like Scottie deserves like half of this today. He’s had an unbelievable season (with four wins) and I feel sort of bad that I pipped him at the post.
“He’s a hell of a competitor and an even better guy and it was an honour and privilege to battle with him.
“I didn’t give myself much of a chance teeing off. Six behind, I thought it was going to be really tough to make it up.
“I got a little lucky with Scottie not playing his best golf today, and I took advantage of that with my good play.
“It means an awful lot. You know, to be the first to do anything in the game that you love so much, it’s an incredibly proud moment.”
Scheffler (65-66-66-73) was gracious in defeat as his putter went cold and he made several errors in judgement.
Good round
“Tip of the cap to Rory. He played a really good round of golf. I don’t know exactly what he started the week off, but I’m sure he was pretty close to winning the tournament individually, as well.
“Don’t play golf for money. I play to win tournaments and I play to have fun and do my best and see where the game can take me.
“Today the money definitely didn’t creep into my mind. I wanted to win the season-long title. I’ve had a really great year and I wanted to finish it off with a win here, and unfortunately I wasn’t able to do that.”
The 26-year-old top seed tied the record for largest lead lost with 18 holes left to play.
Scheffler also became the second no. 1 not to go on to win in the fourth year of Starting Strokes format after Justin Thomas in 2019. (courtesy pgatour.com)
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