Castle Rock (USA), Aug 28 (IANS): Despite modest finishes, Indian Americans Sahith Theegala (7k6 and T-48) and Akshay Bhatia (:77 and T-45) qualified for the season-ending Tour Championship. Also making the Top 30 was Indo-British Aaron Rai (74 and T-43). Theegala is seeded 11th, Bhatia is 13th and Rai is 26th for the Tour Championships where Scottie Scheffler is the top seed and starts with a score of 10’-under. Theegala will be 3-under, Bhatia will be 2-under an d Rai even par.
On Sunday, Keegan Bradley won the BMW Championships of the U.S. for his seventh TOUR title by a single stroke from Adam Scott and Sam Burns after a final round 72.
Si Woo Kim moved up from 44th to 32nd place on the FedEx Cup points list, two rungs outside the top 30 who advanced into the finale. Korea’s Si Woo Kim fell just short in his bid to join compatriots Sungjae Im and Byeong Hun An in the FedEx Cup Playoffs finale, the TOUR Championship, despite finishing a season-best tied fifth at the BMW Championship on Sunday.
Im and An carded matching 71s to end their week in tied 11th and equal 13th positions respectively and safely advanced to the TOUR Championship at East Lake in Atlanta where the FedEx Cup winner will be crowned.
The 26-year-old Im, with seven top-10s this season, will make his sixth straight appearance at East Lake and will start the TOUR Championship on 3-under and seven shots back of Scottie Scheffler in the staggered-scoring format based on FedEx Cup positions entering the Playoffs finale. He ranked 11th after the BMW Championship.
It will be An’s debut appearance in the TOUR Championship, thanks largely to five top 10s and six other top 25s. He will start the TOUR Championship on 2-under after placing 16th on the FedEx Cup points list.
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama will be the highest-ranked Asian golfer starting at East Lake after finishing third on the points list, behind top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele in second place. He will begin the week on 7-under, but all eyes will be on him as to whether he can recover in time for the first round on Thursday following his withdrawal before the second round of the BMW Championship last week.
When Sungjae Im bought a house in Atlanta at the end of 2020, it was simply to set up a U.S. base due to the ease of flight connectivity and an array of Korean restaurants in his new neighbourhood.
It has now become a big motivation to ensure he retains his Top-30 status each year to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs finale, the TOUR Championship, which is played at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, and a 30-minute drive from Im’s home.
The 26-year-old Korean star will make his sixth successive appearance in the TOUR Championship this week to extend a proud streak, which began during his rookie season in 2019. The impressive run no doubt cements his stature amongst the game’s elite.
With seven top 10s and over US$6 million in earnings this year, Im ranked 11th on the FedEx Cup points list following the BMW Championship in Colorado last weekend and will start the final week at historical East Lake on 3-under and seven strokes behind leader Scottie Scheffler in the staggered-scoring format.