Safe to say that Sungjae Im is feeling a little bit better.
It’s been five months since Im played a Sunday on the PGA Tour; he’s entering this one with a two-shot lead.
“I’m really thrilled about the birdie on the final hole, and to have a two-shot lead going into tomorrow,” Im said after a third-round 69 at Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course. His birdie at No. 18 was just the third of the day.
The South Korean star had a lengthy, unconventional offseason. After finishing T27 at last August’s Tour Championship, Im played three fall events in Asia in October — including the Baycurrent, his most recent four-round effort on this tour — before turning his attention to military training.
Because he’d won a gold medal at the 2023 Asian Games, Im was exempt from South Korea’s two-year military service. But he was still on the hook for several weeks of basic military training and volunteer work. That meant laying down his clubs for a three-week boot camp that yielded a new title — “9th Marine Brigade 91st Marine Battalion,” he wrote on Instagram — and emerged he said at the time “without any injuries.”
But Im suffered a setback as he prepared for the 2026 PGA Tour season, missing the first seven events with a wrist injury. He didn’t touch a club for more than a month and a half, he said, an unprecedented move in his 10-year pro career. And when he did return two weeks ago, he missed the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and then again at last week’s Players Championship.
Still, Im said he found a silver lining in his lengthy layoff.
“So after the wrist injury, I wasn’t able to practice for two months. So I think a lot of my shots that I didn’t like from last year I was able to, once I started practicing, I was able to correct and it’s just been consistently getting better. Even though there were shots I’m not happy about, I feel comfortable now.”
Im said he felt some progress in his golf swing at the Players Championship despite a missed cut.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been in the lead like this, and I’m sure I will be nervous, but the best I can do is just to play my own game,” he said.
Im said that while he’s eager to break a four-and-a-half-year winless drought, he’s found great satisfaction in his consistency. The 2025 season marked his seventh consecutive qualifying for the Tour Championship.
“Within that period of time I’ve been able to play really well. I’ve had some second and third places. For me, just being able to finish within the top and to have success in that way is important for me and been something that I’ve been happy with,” he said.
Now he’s on the verge of that win. After a spectacular two-eagle opening-round 64 and back-to-back 69s, he leads at 11 under par. Brandt Snedeker and David Lipsky (nine under) are T2, while Marco Penge and Matt Fitzpatrick (eight under par) sit T4.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been in the lead like this, and I’m sure I will be nervous,” Im said. “But the best I can do is just to play my own game.”
