Sungjae Im

Four years on the PGA Tour and four times making the Tour Championship for Sungjae Im. The 2021-22 campaign was probably the best of the bunch, as Im notched a win at the Shriners Open along with a trio of runner-up finishes and nine total top-10's. The South Korean gained at least 0.3 strokes per round in every category and ended up sixth in SG: Total and 13th in scoring average for the season. Im has had a very complete game every since he came out on Tour and a multi-win season or major in 2022-23 would surprise nobody.

The pandemic was about the only thing that could slow Im's pace in 2020. After playing 35 events in 2019, Im played just 26 the following season due to COVID, but in 2020-21 he was right back on pace at 35 events. It's not just the number of events he plays though, Im gets a lot done when he plays. In 2020-21, he broke $4 million for the second time in his career. Im will play a lot again this season and he'll probably end up around $4 million again, but anything much higher than that is unlikely.

It took a pandemic to slow Im down this past season, but he still managed to put up some great numbers. Im gained notoriety for playing nearly every week during his rookie season and he was on a good pace in his sophomore season as well and then the interruption in play hit and his momentum was stalled. Im was playing his best golf just prior to the break and he never managed to get back on track. Although he should continue to produce at a high level this season, his number was set too high this past season for salary cap purposes.

Im entered this past season as one of the more highly-touted rookies in his class and although he didn't pick up a win, he met or exceeded all expectations. Im played 35 times this past season, which is a little insane and it's reasonable to think that he simply wore down at points during the season. That said, he made over $2.8 million in his rookie season and the future looks bright. As for his salary cap prospects, well that's a little murky. The bar is set pretty high, but he set that bar without the benefit of a win or a runner-up finish. If he gets a win or a runner-up this season, he could easily reach $4 million.

The 20-year-old enjoyed success on the Japanese Tour in 2017 before leading the Web.com Tour's money list wire-to-wire this year, having won both the season-opening Bahamas Great Exuma Classic and WinCo Foods Portland Open. Im not only reached the top-100 in the Official World Golf Ranking, but he also qualified for a pair of majors, missing the cut at the U.S. Open before placing T42 at the PGA Championship. The young Korean ranked fifth on the Web.com Tour in birdie average and 19th in GIR percentage.