$149,603 (approximately 219 million won). This is the average prize money per tournament that Korean men’s golf ace Lim Seong-jae recorded for five seasons since his debut on the PGA Tour. Lim Seong-jae earned $22,739,803 (approximately 30.437 billion won) in 152 tournaments and is ranked 69th in the PGA Tour’s career money ranking.
It is even more surprising if you look only at the 2022-2023 season. Im Seong-jae, who earned 5,792,421 dollars (approximately 7.75 billion won) this season, has an average prize money of 206,872 dollars (approximately 277 million won) per tournament. He has been benefiting from a significant increase in PGA Tour prize money with steady performance, including eight top 10 finishes.
Im Seong-jae has one chance left to sweep more prize money this season. The BMW Championship, the second round of the PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoffs, opened on the 18th (Korean time) at the Olympia Fields Country Club (par 70) in Olympia Fields, Illinois, USA. Only up to this tournament, which has a total prize money of 20 million dollars (approximately 26.762 billion won), is included in the official prize money.
A good start. Lim Seong-jae tied 3 birdies and 1 bogey, recording a 2 under par 68 strokes, and started in a tie for 12th place, 3 strokes behind joint leaders Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) and Brian Harmon (USA). Im Seong-jae tied for 15th in this event last year.
On the PGA Tour, which has truly become a ‘battlefield of money’, Lim Seong-jae has been consistently active for 5 seasons and has established himself as a ‘Korean golf ace’. This season, he has been named in the top 25 16 times, including 8 in the top 10, and earned $5,792,421 in prize money for the season, ranking 23rd, the highest among Korean players.
Ahead of this tournament, he broke his record for the most prize money in a season and is aiming to break another personal record. Top 10 is an indicator of consistency. Im Seong-jae, who finished in the top 10 nine times last season, will set his record anew if he places his name in the top 10 at this tournament and the Tour Championship final before the playoffs. There are only six players on the PGA Tour this season who have more top 10 finishes than Lim Seong-jae. It is also the first time that the season prize money exceeds 6 million dollars (approximately 8.1 billion won). He only needs to finish 23rd or higher in this event.
Although he hesitated for a while in the middle of this season, the driving force behind his steady performance since his debut on the PGA Tour in the 2018-2019 season is his ‘iron shot’. Im Seong-jae is the No. 1 overall par 3 average score this season on the PGA Tour. There is no problem even on the PGA Tour, where the courses are getting longer recently. Im Seong-jae showed off an overwhelming long iron shot that left an average birdie putt within 15 yards at a distance of 225 to 250 yards, which is the most difficult for top golfers.
Of course, there are many birdies. Im Seong-jae showed off the aspect of being the birdie king from the first season to the third season of the PGA Tour this season, and is running 7th in the total number of birdies (381).
It’s not just iron shots. Lim Seong-jae is in the top ranks in all categories except driving distance. The total stroke gain (the number of strokes gained), which shows the accuracy and efficiency of the shot, is 1.113, ranking 16th overall. He became a truly flawless golfer.
Im Seong-jae, who had a good start in this tournament, also took the opportunity to participate in the ‘Tour Championship’, the final round of the playoffs for 5 consecutive seasons. Based on the results of the first round on this day, Lim Seong-jae’s predicted ranking for the FedEx Cup is 24th. Im Seong-jae, who set the record for the most consecutive appearances by a Korean player at the Tour Championships last season, can rise to the sole lead in the record of most appearances (four), which he shared with Choi Kyung-ju.먹튀검증
The bonus based on the final ranking is not counted in the season prize money, but it is huge. If he wins, he will receive a whopping 18 million dollars (approximately 24.1 billion won). Last year, Im Seong-jae finished in second place, just one stroke short of McIlroy, but he got 5.75 million dollars (about 7.7 billion won) in bonus prize money.
McIlroy, who sat on the money cushion after becoming the final champion last year, tied for the lead with “The Open Champion” Harmon with a 5 under par 65 strokes that day. McIlroy, who is currently third in the FedEx Cup points rankings, could move up to first if he wins this event.
Kim Si-woo, the highest among Korean players with a FedEx Cup ranking of 17th, started with a 1-over-par 71, tied for 30th, and Kim Joo-hyung, who ranked 18th in the FedEx Cup, started with a 2-over-par 72, tied for 40th. Ahn Byung-hoon, who is aiming to participate in the Tour Championship, started with an even par 70 and a tie for 23rd place. The expected FedEx Cup ranking has risen by one notch to 37th, but you have to be at least in the top 10 to join the war of money.