Sungjae Im

26-Year-Old Golfer
2025 Fantasy Outlook
Im has been the model of consistency at just 26 years of age. He is coming off his sixth straight TOUR Championship appearance and continued to flex his strength all the way through the bag. The South Korean has not lost strokes in any category since the 2020-21 campaign when he was 142nd in SG: Around-the-Green. Im went through some major struggles at the beginning of 2024 with his iron play, losing strokes on approach in eight of ten starts. He would only post two top-25s in that stretch to go along with four missed cuts. After that point Im closed the FedExCup season gaining strokes on approach in 11 of 14 starts and posting 10 top-12 finishes in that stretch. He is more than due to find the winner's circle in 2025 for the first time on the PGA Tour since the Shriners Children's Open in 2021. Read Past Outlooks
Finishes third at The Sentry
January 5, 2025
Im shot an eight-under 65 on Sunday at The Sentry to finish in solo third place.
ANALYSIS
Im was a distant six strokes back entering the final round following an 11-under 62 in the third round, and he closed with a bogey-free round that was highlighted by four birdies over the final five holes. He was led by his driving play, ranking second for the tournament in SG: Off-the-tee and was also fourth in putting. It was Im's third top-5 finish at The Sentry and an impressive start to the year after finishing seventh in the FedExCup last season.
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2024
2023
2022
2020
2019
2018
It's hard to believe Im is entering his sixth season on the PGA Tour at just 25 years old. The Korean had another solid season in 2022-23 going 25-for-31 with nine top-10s and 19 top-25s. Im has been so balanced across the board in his career, but last season he did struggle a bit with the irons at 88th in SG: Approach and 104th in GIR percentage. You would have to expect both of those to be better in 2024 and that would certainly lead to at least a couple finishes inside the top-three, something Im failed to do at all in 2022-23.
Four years on the PGA Tour and four times making the Tour Championship for Sungjae Im. The 2021-22 campaign was probably the best of the bunch, as Im notched a win at the Shriners Open along with a trio of runner-up finishes and nine total top-10's. The South Korean gained at least 0.3 strokes per round in every category and ended up sixth in SG: Total and 13th in scoring average for the season. Im has had a very complete game every since he came out on Tour and a multi-win season or major in 2022-23 would surprise nobody.
The pandemic was about the only thing that could slow Im's pace in 2020. After playing 35 events in 2019, Im played just 26 the following season due to COVID, but in 2020-21 he was right back on pace at 35 events. It's not just the number of events he plays though, Im gets a lot done when he plays. In 2020-21, he broke $4 million for the second time in his career. Im will play a lot again this season and he'll probably end up around $4 million again, but anything much higher than that is unlikely.
It took a pandemic to slow Im down this past season, but he still managed to put up some great numbers. Im gained notoriety for playing nearly every week during his rookie season and he was on a good pace in his sophomore season as well and then the interruption in play hit and his momentum was stalled. Im was playing his best golf just prior to the break and he never managed to get back on track. Although he should continue to produce at a high level this season, his number was set too high this past season for salary cap purposes.
Im entered this past season as one of the more highly-touted rookies in his class and although he didn't pick up a win, he met or exceeded all expectations. Im played 35 times this past season, which is a little insane and it's reasonable to think that he simply wore down at points during the season. That said, he made over $2.8 million in his rookie season and the future looks bright. As for his salary cap prospects, well that's a little murky. The bar is set pretty high, but he set that bar without the benefit of a win or a runner-up finish. If he gets a win or a runner-up this season, he could easily reach $4 million.
The 20-year-old enjoyed success on the Japanese Tour in 2017 before leading the Web.com Tour's money list wire-to-wire this year, having won both the season-opening Bahamas Great Exuma Classic and WinCo Foods Portland Open. Im not only reached the top-100 in the Official World Golf Ranking, but he also qualified for a pair of majors, missing the cut at the U.S. Open before placing T42 at the PGA Championship. The young Korean ranked fifth on the Web.com Tour in birdie average and 19th in GIR percentage.
More Fantasy News
T13 behind strong third round
October 28, 2024
Im finished in a share of 13th place following a three-under 67 in the final round of the ZOZO Championship.
ANALYSIS
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7th in sixth TOUR Championship
September 3, 2024
Im closed with a seven-under 64 in the final round to finish in solo seventh at the TOUR Championship.
ANALYSIS
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T11 finish in Denver
August 26, 2024
Im carded a one-under 71 on Sunday at the BMW Championship to finish in a share of 11th place.
ANALYSIS
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Posts another top-10
July 22, 2024
Im carded a two-under 69 on Sunday at The Open Championship to finish in a share of seventh place.
ANALYSIS
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Continues to play well
July 15, 2024
Im recorded a one-under 69 on Sunday at the Genesis Scottish Open to finish 14-under and in a share of fourth place.
ANALYSIS
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