‘Iron Man’ Im Seong-jae, who endured the time difference, won the come-from-behind victory by 5 strokes… “You did well at the PGA, I was very happy”
Im Seong-jae (25, CJ Logistics), the ‘Iron Man’ representing Korean men’s golf, showed an overwhelming class.
Im Seong-jae scored an eagle and a birdie 4 in the final 4th round of the Korea Men’s Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour Woori Financial Championship (total prize money 1.5 billion won, championship prize money 300 million won) held at Ferrum Club (par 72, 7232 yards) in Yeoju, Gyeonggi-do on the 14th. I tied a dog and two bogeys and wrote a 4 under par 68 strokes.
Lim Seong-jae, who scored a final total of 10 under par 278, showed off his presence with a miraculous come-from-behind victory overturning his inferiority by 5 strokes on the Korean Tour, which he participated in after 3 years and 7 months.
Lim Seong-jae is a Korean golfer who won two wins on the PGA Tour. He is ranked 18th in the men’s golf world rankings, the highest among domestic players.
In the domestic tour competition, Im Seong-jae, who stood at the top at the Genesis Championship in October 2019, devoted himself only to the PGA stage. Last year, he tried to participate in the Woori Financial Championship, which held an invitational tournament, but swallowed regret after being diagnosed with a new coronavirus infection (Corona 19). The news of Lim Seong-jae, who was invited again this season, was reported to participate, and domestic golf fans began to heat up.
Cloud galleries watching Lim Seong-jae (center)’s tee shot at hole 3. 메이저사이트
This tournament started with Im Seong-jae and ended with Im Seong-jae. After participating in the PGA Tour Wells Fargo Championship last week, he started competing as soon as he returned home. Many galleries flocked to the Ferrum Club in Yeoju to see him, but had difficulty adjusting to jet lag at the beginning of the event.
Although he started with a tie for 24th with a 1 under par in the first round, Im Seong-jae did not hide his confidence. Im Seong-jae, who raised the rankings to 8th place with a 3-under par in the 2nd round, started the 4th round with a tie for 4th place by reducing 2 strokes again in the 3rd round. On this day alone, a whopping 11,213 galleries gathered, and a total of 20,148 people in the 4th round visited Yeoju Ferrum CC. This is the largest number of galleries among KPGA-sponsored tournaments this season.
However, not many predicted Im Seong-jae’s victory. It was because the gap with leader Choi Jin-ho reached 5 strokes. 1st place Choi Jin-ho and 2nd place Yoon Sang-pil suffered from sluggishness from the beginning of the round. In the meantime, Lim Seong-jae struck out. In the meantime, Korean-American Lee Joon-seok jumped to the sole lead, and Lim Seong-jae, who was three strokes behind, made an eagle on the 12th hole (par 5). He hit his second shot close to 3m from the hole cup and quickly joined the race for the lead with an elaborate eagle putt.
He proved why he is called ‘Iron Man’ in front of domestic fans. He made a birdie on the 13th hole (par 4) with a second shot close to the hole, jumped to the joint lead, and showed the temperament of a matchmaker on the last hole 18 (par 5). Lee Jun-seok succeeded in two-on and Lim Seong-jae dropped the ball into the green bunker.
After the game, Lim Seong-jae said, “I’m happy to be able to win. It was difficult to adapt to the jet lag from the first day. I endured with mental strength for four days.” In the middle of the game, (Lee) Jun-seok realized that his brother was in the lead and jumped into the competition.”
Lim Seong-jae is thrilled after winning the championship. /Photo = KPGA
Another come-from-behind victory following the 2019 Genesis Championship. Im Seong-jae said, “I thought the beginning of the game was important to win the come-from-behind game. “I thought it was worth doing,” he said.
It was a competition that showed ‘why Im Seong-jae’, from elaborate shots and steel mentality. Lim Seong-jae, who won both Korean Tour tournaments in which he participated, received 300 million won in prize money for this championship.
Im Seong-jae said, “It was a good feeling to meet domestic fans after playing for the first time in about 3 years and 7 months. I was surprised that many galleries came to visit even on a weekday.” I was very happy to see the gallery there,” he said.
Lee Jun-seok, who was able to win the spotlight by winning the title sponsorship competition for Woori Financial Group, his sponsor, over Seong-jae Lim, had to hang his head with the last putt.
The winner of the last tournament, Chan-Min Jung, the “King of Long Hits,” reduced 5 strokes on this day alone, but could not make up for the sluggish performance of even par until the previous day, finishing the tournament in a tie for 7th place with 5-under-par 283 strokes along with Kang Kyung-Nam and others.