Sungjae Im Misses Out on Championship Trophy with 3-Over Par Final Round

From Two-Shot Lead to Tied Fourth at Valspar Championship
Struggles with Shot Accuracy: Two Birdies, Five Bogeys Result in Drop in Ranking
Fitzpatrick Claims Victory; Kim Sung-hyun Finishes 7th, Kim Joo-hyung 18th

Sungjae Im missed out on the championship trophy.

On March 22 (local time), at the Copperhead Course (par 71, 7,352 yards) of the Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, Florida, USA, Sungjae Im recorded two birdies and five bogeys in the fourth round of the PGA Tour Valspar Championship (total prize money: 9.1 million dollars). Although he started as the leader with a two-stroke advantage, Im struggled with a 3-over-par 74 for the day and fell to a tie for fourth place at 8-under-par 276.

Sungjae Im is making a bunker shot on the 2nd hole of the 4th round at the Valspar Championship. Palm Harbor=AFP Yonhap News Photo by AFP

Im had a shaky start with consecutive bogeys on the 2nd and 3rd holes, losing strokes by hitting his second shot into a bunker. He also made bogeys on the 6th (par 4), 8th (par 3), and 10th (par 4) holes, dropping out of contention for the win. Although he tried to turn things around with a birdie on the 11th (par 5), his only other birdie came on the 16th (par 4). His shot accuracy was lacking, with a fairway hit rate of just 46.15% and a greens in regulation rate of only 33.33%.

Im, who claimed his first victory at the Honda Classic in March 2020 and lifted his second trophy at the Shriners Children's Open in October 2021, has not tasted victory for over four years. This year, he started the new season late due to a right wrist injury earlier this month. He missed the cut in both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship, his previous starts this season.

Matt Fitzpatrick (England) carded a three-under to claim a comeback victory at 11-under-par 273. It was his third career win, coming three years after the RBC Heritage in April 2023, and he took home the winner's prize of $1,638,000 (approximately 2.47 billion won). David Lipsky (USA) finished second (10-under-par 274), Jordan Smith (England) was third (9-under-par 275), and Xander Schauffele (USA) tied for fourth. Among Korean players, Kim Sunghyun finished tied for seventh (7-under-par 277), and Kim Juhyung was tied for 18th (4-under-par 280).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.