Charles Schwab Challenge: Top 10 power rankings at Colonial
Sungjae Im may never be more rested for a PGA Tour event in his career than he is this week.
No one was thrown off his routine these last few months more than Sungjae Im. The 22-year-old South Korean is used to playing in tournaments on a near virtual basis.
With how well he’s played since he burst onto the scene as 2019 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, it’s hard to blame him for wanting to keep the ball rolling.
He came oh so close to winning an event in 2019, and finally broke through this February at the Honda Classic. He persevered through tough conditions to fend off the likes of Tommy Fleetwood, Lee Westwood and Gary Woodland. The ‘wood’ theme is merely coincidental.
Im followed that up with a solo third at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in his last start before the pandemic.
He’s missed just one cut this season and owns five top-10s worldwide (one being a win on the Korean Tour).
Im also MC’d at the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge, but only by two. He hit the ball decently and fired consecutive 72s. The putter let him down as he lost nearly a shot to the field on the greens. With some more notes in his greens book and more rest on his side (this was his third start in a row in 2019).
Im is also generally a good putter as he currently ranks 36th in SG putting (.451) and was 39th last season (.323).
The 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge also was smack dab in the middle of worst stretch of the year. He had about a month or so where he failed to record a top-30 before righting the ship later that summer.
Im is 22nd in strokes gained tee to green (1.013) and doesn’t have glaring weakness in his game. He was 23rd in SG around the green (.295) last season but has dipped to 132nd (-.035). We’ll see which one is more closer to the norm as he career progresses