Augusta, Georgia, United States: Korean Im Sung-jae savoured a career third top-10 at the Masters Tournament as Rory McIlroy rewrote golf history with a nerve-jangling play-off victory which made him only the sixth golfer to complete the career Grand Slam.
The 27-year-old Im posted a closing three-under 69 on a memorable Sunday at Augusta National to finish as the leading Asia-Pacific golfer in tied fifth on seven-under 281.
That was four shots behind McIlroy who dramatically prevailed over England's Justin Rose with a birdie-three on the first extra hole at the 18th to earn his first Masters title and the coveted green jacket.
The Northern Irishman, who arrived at Augusta National on the back of two victories this season, joined an illustrious club comprising of Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only men who have won all four Major championships.
He signed for a closing 73 which included two double-bogeys and an 18th hole bogey, but prevailed with some gutsy golf, including a glorious approach to four feet in extra time for the well-earned title.
Im, a member of the gold medal-winning Korean team at the 2023 Asian Games, has now matched his compatriot KJ Choi who also has three career top-10s at the Masters. It's a run that has given Im added fuel to keep dreaming of winning the tournament in the future.
“It was a good week and finishing top-five shows that I’m able to compete here,” said Im, who was runner-up in 2020 and tied eighth in 2022. “The golf course is so difficult and I managed to play well and keep the mistakes to a minimum. I really love coming back to play here and look forward to next year and having another go again.
“Rory made his dream come true today and hopefully my time will come one day. I can only keep working hard to get better.”
In what was his sixth Masters start, two-time PGA Tour winner Im showed he’s learning to master the intricacies of Augusta National.
He sank four birdies and a magical eagle on the 13th hole by largely producing shots that require intimate knowledge of how the ball would react on the Augusta National greens.
On the seventh hole, he spun his approach back to four feet for his second birdie of the day, and a long iron approach into the par-five 13th was pure class as his ball landed on the green and fed off the slope to within five feet of the pin.
“The eagle on 13 was definitely a highlight and it was good to save par from the bunker on the last hole as well,” said Im, who has three top-fives this season and will rise to 15th place on the FedEx Cup standings.
“Last year (when he missed the cut), my feeling was not very good, and then my game was not up there, but this year is kind of different. I was under par from the first day, so I feel good about that,” he said.
Of the other Asia-Pacific players who made the cut, Australian Jason Day shared eighth place on five-under 283 followed by Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion, who shot the joint low round of 66 to finish tied 21st on 286 alongside another Korean, An Byeong-hun, who carded a final round 71.
Australian Min Woo Lee signed off with a 74 to place 49th on six-over 294 while Korean Tom Kim was joint 52nd on 297 after struggling to a closing 79.
McIlroy made it a heart-stopping day as his overnight two-shot lead evaporated on the first hole which he double-bogeyed. But the world number two fought back with four birdies to seemingly take control of the tournament.
He then nervously dropped four shots over the next four holes, including a double on the 13th hole with a wedge in hand, before fighting back once again with wonderful birdies on the 15th and 17th holes.
With a one-shot lead playing 18, McIlroy had a five-foot par putt for the win but missed. After shrugging off the disappointment, a precise wedge approach to four feet at the first extra hole sealed the deal for McIlroy as Rose, who had charged into contention with a 66, agonisingly missed his own birdie chance earlier from 16 feet.
“It's a dream come true. I have dreamt about that moment for as long as I can remember. There were points in my career where I didn’t know if I would have this nice garment over my shoulders, but I didn’t make it easy today. I was nervous. It was one of the toughest days I’ve ever had on the golf course,” said McIlroy, whose previous Major successes came at the 2011 U.S. Open, 2012 PGA Championship, 2014 Open Championship and 2014 PGA Championship.
