South Korean Golfers Kim Si-woo and Im Sung-jae Start PGA Tour Playoffs Strong

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Aug. 17 (Yonhap) -- Two South Korean veterans have opened the PGA Tour playoffs by finishing in the top five and climbing up the crucial points standings.

Kim Si-woo finished a distant runner-up to world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler at the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, on Sunday (local time). Kim shot a bogey-free two-under 68 in the final round to finish at nine-under 271, eight strokes behind Scheffler.

Kim's countryman Im Sung-jae tied for fifth at seven-under, after carding a 74 in the final round. Im was tied for second place through three rounds, just two back of Scheffler, but recorded only one birdie against five bogeys in the final round to fall back.

However, Im jumped 13 spots to reach No. 40 in the FedEx Cup rankings and qualify for the next playoff event, the BMW Championship in St. Louis starting Thursday.

Only the top 70 players after the regular season were eligible for the FedEx St. Jude Championship and the top 50 after the Memphis stop will get to tee off at the BMW tournament.

Then the top 30 after the St. Louis event will advance to the final playoff event, the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

Im has played at each of the past seven Tour Championships, the longest such streak by a South Korean player, and will need another strong showing this week to keep his run going.

Kim moved up three spots to No. 4 in the FedEx Cup standings, the highest position by a winless player this season.

In 22 starts, Kim has had 11 top-10 finishes, the second-most on the tour behind only Scheffler's 12, and has now been the runner-up three times.

A third Korean in the field in Memphis, Tom Kim, tied for 12th at five-under 275. He remained at No. 26 in FedEx Cup points, safely in for the BMW Championship and in position for his second career Tour Championship appearance.