Patience pays off for Im's 2nd title

LOS ANGELES • Im Sung-jae said winning the Shriners Children's Open in Las Vegas on Sunday was a "gift from above" as he marked his 100th start in the PGA Tour with his second title, after claiming his maiden trophy on his 50th start last year.

The 23-year-old, nicknamed "Ironman Im", sank nine birdies, carding a final round of nine-under 62 to seal a four-shot win over American Matthew Wolff (68) as he went 24-under 260 for the tournament at TPC Summerlin.

Im's maiden triumph on the Tour was at The Honda Classic in March last year and he said his latest win was "very meaningful".

"It was hard coming, but today how everything went, it was a gift from above," said Im, the second youngest winner of the event after 1996 champion Tiger Woods, who won at age 20 years, nine months, six days.

"I played so well and I'm glad I got the win. It was tough to win the first one and I thought the second would be harder. I just kept my patience and tried to keep my focus throughout the period."

The smooth-swinging Im's impeccable day included a 30-foot birdie to open his round and five birdies in a row from the ninth hole to the 13th to seize control of the tournament.

Behind Wolff in joint-third were Marc Leishman (63), Rory Sabbatini (64) and overnight leader Adam Schenk (70) on 19-under 265.

American Chad Ramey (72, tied-14 on 269), who co-led with Im after 36 holes, had a close-up view of his playing partner's impressive final round.

"He hit it well and his putter got hot. It was fun to watch," Ramey said.

The victory comes with a new caddie William Spencer on Im's bag this week, and not long after his purchase of a house in the United States, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Im had been without a US base in his first few years on the Tour.

"Hotel to hotel was not easy but having somewhere to settle down, to have my house and Atlanta is great to commute, huge airport, a lot of flights to everywhere, so it all came together very well," he said.

Im, who notched a Tour record of 498 birdies last season and was the 2019 Rookie of the Year, will turn his attention to this week's CJ Cup, a Tour event that is being played in Las Vegas for a second straight year after being moved out of South Korea due to the pandemic.

"I want to celebrate today's win, so tonight and probably tomorrow I want to take a break. But starting Tuesday morning I want to prepare for the CJ Cup," Im said.

"And most importantly I'm sponsored by CJ, so it's an important tournament to me and I want to play well, I want to get ready."

Wolff, who was chasing his second Tour victory, said: "Sung-jae played unbelievable. This game, it feels like when I'm in the lead or contention, someone just seems to go off the last day on me."

REUTERS, PGA TOUR, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE