Top-10 Finish for Kim at PGA Tour’s Flagship Event

Jacksonville, Florida, United States: Kim Si-woo posted a tied-ninth finish at The Players Championship following a roller-coaster final round 71.

Fellow-Korean Im Sung-jae settled for a share of 17th place after a closing 66 which put him in a good mood ahead of his title defence at this week’s Honda Classic.

American Justin Thomas clinched a thrilling one-shot victory for his first Players title and 14th PGA Tour win at The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass after he held off veteran Englishman Lee Westwood, who finished solo second, and Bryson DeChambeau in tied third place with Brian Harman.

Thomas fired a 68 for a winning score of 14-under 274, with overnight leader Westwood returning a 72.

Kim, the 2017 Players champion and a former Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) participant, made five birdies against four bogeys to finish six shots behind Thomas. It was his first top-10 since winning a third PGA Tour title at The American Express in January.

After a disappointing 77 in the third round which knocked him out of contention in the PGA Tour’s flagship tournament, Im produced his second six-under round of the week with an eagle on 11, six birdies and a double-bogey on 15.

It put him in a good frame of mind ahead of his defence at The Honda Classic, which he won for his first PGA Tour title last season. “Before I teed off today, I focused on getting my good feelings back, which I had in the second round. That helped me a lot on the golf course, as I created many chances for birdies,” said the 22-year-old.

“I was quite solid until the third round. But I think I was little greedy (on Saturday), and I lost my control mentally and did not play my own game. Thankfully I recovered and had good round and that makes me feel good.”

After making the turn in 33 with birdies on the second, third and seventh, Im nailed a hybrid shot from 215 metres to about five feet for his eagle at the par-five 11th. He sank three more birdies on his back nine, including one on the 18th.

“Golf is hard. You can make a good score today, and you can mess it up the next day,” said Im. “Everybody wants to play well every day, but that’s not easy. Everything was not good yesterday, but today everything worked, including my driver, iron play and putting. That’s golf.”