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2021 The American Express: Top 10 power rankings

By Mike Randleman

Adam Hadwin hits out of the bunker on the 18th hole of the Stadium Course at PGA West during the Desert Classic, January 20, 2019.Desert Classic Sunday 14
Adam Hadwin hits out of the bunker on the 18th hole of the Stadium Course at PGA West during the Desert Classic, January 20, 2019.Desert Classic Sunday 14 /
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Sungjae Im tees off on the ninth hole at the Stadium Course at PGA West in La Quinta, during the American Express golf tournament, January 18, 2020.Amex Golf Pga West 2020 Sat 17
Sungjae Im tees off on the ninth hole at the Stadium Course at PGA West in La Quinta, during the American Express golf tournament, January 18, 2020.Amex Golf Pga West 2020 Sat 17 /

Three weeks into 2021 and three tournaments for Sungjae Im. No one is surprised. The PGA Tour’s ironman has arrived to Palm Springs seeking another fat paycheck.

The young South Korean star debuted at The American Express tying for 12th (71-65-64-71) in 2019. Im returned in 2020 and improved by one shot and two spots on the leaderboard to T-10th (67-66-69-68). Last year he shot 69 and 68 on the Stadium Course and had an eagle on the par-5 8th on Saturday. If he can clean up on the rest of the par-5s, he’ll be right there.

His success at PGA West and La Quinta is flanked by success in recent starts leading in. In November, Im posted his highest finish at a major with T-2nd at the Masters. To open 2001, the 22 year old was in the 60s all four days to earn T-5th at the Tournament of Champions.

Last week wasn’t what Im was looking for with T-56th at the Sony Open, but he was again in the 60s each day en route to making his seventh cut in the last eight tries worldwide.

Im broke through for a win last year the Honda Classic.

He ranks 12th (.67) in strokes gained off the tee after coming in at 20th in 2019-20 (.437). If he can clean up his act on and around the greens, he’ll be firing on all cylinders. Im was top 40 in SG putting and SG tee to green. He slipped a bit last season but was still top 100 in both.

Now, with 33 rounds measured, he’s outside the top 150. To be fair, Shotlink data wasn’t available for the Masters, which would have helped his stats a lot.

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