Lee Kyoung-hoon smashes through final round to join Im Sung-jae at Tour Championship

Golf

Published: 22 Aug. 2022, 16:08

Lee Kyoung-hoon smashes through final round to join Im Sung-jae at Tour Championship

Lee Kyoung-hoon hits from the 18th fairway during the final round of the BMW Championship at Wilmington Country Club on Sunday in Wilmington, Delaware. [AP/YONHAP]

Im Sung-jae hits from the third tee during the final round of the BMW Championship at Wilmington Country Club on Sunday in Wilmington, Delaware. [AP/YONHAP]

Lee Kyoung-hoon joins Im Sung-jae at the Tour Championship for the first time in his career after tying for No. 5 at the BMW Championship on Sunday.

After carding a 68 in the first round, a 70 on Friday and 71 on moving day, Lee entered his final round tied for 12th place.

But his explosive Sunday performance allowed Lee to jump up to tie for fifth place.

Lee started off his final round with four consecutive birdies, smashing through the first nine with five birdies and adding a fifth in the par-4 eighth. Despite a slight slip on the par-4 10th, where he carded his first bogey, Lee went on to add two more birdies on the par-4 16th and par-4 17th to finish with an overall 10-under-par, 273.

This will be the first time that Lee has competed in the final leg of the FedExCup Playoffs after narrowly missing out on last year's Tour Championship.

"Honestly a lot of pressure this week," said Lee. "Last year I finished 31st, so I didn't want to be in the same spot this year. I mean, 31st is a really cruel spot. I was trying to not think about my position, just try my best. Really good start on the first four holes, so that really helped."

Joining Lee at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta next week is Im, who entered the playoffs with his path to the Tour Championship looking very secure.

Im locked in his spot on the Tour Championship, tying for 15th on Sunday. Im had started the playoffs in No. 10 in the FedExCup standings and keeps that position as he heads to his fourth consecutive Tour Championship.

Kim Joo-hyung and Kim Si-woo both failed to extend their playoff journey after tying for No. 54 and No. 67 at the BMW Championship.

Kim Joo-hyung dropped from 25th to 33rd in the FedExCup standings, three short of making it into what would have been his very first Tour Championship.

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