Im Sung-jae finishes tied for second at 3M Open

Im Sung-jae tees off on the second hole during the final round of the 3M Open at the Tournament Players Club in Blaine, Minnesota on Sunday. [AP/YONHAP]

Im Sung-jae finished tied for second place at the 3M Open on Sunday, three strokes behind winner Tony Finau of the United States.

Im carded a 14-under-par, 270, to mark his second-best finish this season, after having won the Shriners Children's Open in October last year.

Im had a spectacular opening round, carding one bogey and seven birdies on Thursday. Despite slipping in the second round, carding a double bogey on the par-4 second, Im was able to bounce back and card a 67 on moving day and a bogeyless 68 in the final round.

On Sunday, after finding his first birdie of the final round on the par-4 fifth, Im kept quiet until the third-to-last hole.

But on the par-4 16th, Im sunk this birdie putt stepping up to tie for fourth and ended his tournament with a bang, birdying the last hole to finish tied for second.

"I started out expecting it to be a difficult final round because of the wind," said Im in a post-tournament interview on Sunday.

"But I am satisfied that I was able to keep bogeyless and card a three-under in the final round despite the hard conditions."

Two other Koreans made the cut at the 3M Open, Kim Joo-hyung tied for 26th while Noh Seung-yul tied for 38th. K. J. Choi and Sung Kang failed to make the cut.

Including Im's one win last year and Sunday's runner-up finish, Im has seven top-10 finishes this season.

There are only five events left on the PGA Tour this season. The season started in September of 2021 and will end with the Tour Championship on August 28.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]