Im Sung-jae tees off on the seventh hole during the second round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, on Saturday. [Lee Imjin Image]
Im Sung-jae tees off on the seventh hole during the second round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, on Saturday. [Lee Imjin Image]

Im Sung-jae surged into a tie for second place in the second round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first event of the 2026 PGA Tour playoffs, which carries a $20 million purse.

Playing at TPC Southwind (par 70) in Memphis, Tennessee, on Saturday, Im carded six birdies and two bogeys for a 4-under 66. After finishing the first round at 4-under to share sixth place, he moved to a two-round total of 8-under 132, pulling into a tie for second with Viktor Hovland of Norway.

The PGA Tour wrapped up its regular season last week at the Wyndham Championship, with the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings advancing to the playoffs for the first event.

The top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings after this week will move on to next week's BMW Championship, the second playoff event, while only the top 30 will qualify for the Tour Championship — the third and final playoff event — which begins Aug. 27. Im's current standing makes him a comfortable bet to advance to the BMW Championship.

Im trails world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler of the United States, who holds the outright lead at 11-under 129, by just three shots, keeping a title run well within reach. Im has not won on the PGA Tour since the Shriners Children's Open in October 2021, a stretch that also included a Honda Classic victory in March 2020.

Im opened his round with three consecutive birdies on holes 1 through 3, then added another on the par-4 sixth after placing his approach to within roughly 1.5 meters of the cup. He drained an approximately 5-meter birdie putt on the par-4 ninth to close the front nine with five birdies. He parred his way through the back nine until dropping his first bogey on the par-4 15th, bounced back with a birdie on the par-5 16th, then gave a stroke back on the par-4 17th.

Scottie Scheffler hands the ball to his caddie while still crouching after sinking a putt on the fourth hole during the second round of the St. Jude Championship on Saturday. [AP]
Scottie Scheffler hands the ball to his caddie while still crouching after sinking a putt on the fourth hole during the second round of the St. Jude Championship on Saturday. [AP]

Scheffler, who entered the playoffs ranked first in the FedEx Cup standings, shot a 9-under round Saturday to jump 16 spots and seize the outright lead. He won once this season, at The American Express in January, and has finished runner-up five times since.

Ludvig Aberg of Sweden sat fourth at 7-under 133, while Tommy Fleetwood of England and Jordan Spieth of the United States shared fifth at 6-under 134 at the halfway mark.

Kim Si-woo, who entered the playoffs seventh in the FedEx Cup standings, shot a 2-under round Saturday to move up to a tie for 27th at 2-under 138. Kim Joo-hyung, ranked 26th in the FedEx Cup, finished the second round tied for 45th at 1-over 141.


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