PGA Championship 2022: A travel COVID issue forces Sungjae Im out of Southern Hills | Golf News and Tour Information

Sungjae Im withdrew from the 2022 PGA Championship.

Last week I, 24, tested positive for COVID-19 and had to leave the Woori Financial Group Championship, held in South Korea. It would have been the first time since 2019 that I had played in his homeland. Due to South Korea’s health and safety protocols, I won’t be able to travel to the United States on time to compete for Wanamaker, which is being held this year in the Southern Hills.

I played well this season, highlighted by winning the Shriners Children’s Open and posting a top-10 finish at the Masters. He entered 10th week of the FedEx Cup and 12th place in strokes taken. This would have been his fifth PGA Championship start to the race.

I am currently the highest ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking (No. 20 to enter the week) not to compete in the PGA Championship, and joined Paul Casey, Harris English and Phil Mickelson as the only players to be within the OWGR top 100 to be held in the Southern Hills. Casey left the PGA on Sunday morning as he struggled with back problems as English withdrew on Friday, his body unprepared for the full 18 holes after hip surgery. Mickelson refused to defend his PGA Championship title, continuing his sabbatical from golf.

Im’s successor on the farm was Scott Stallings. This is only the second major championship appearance since 2014 for Stallings and his fifth career PGA start. Joel Dahmen is now the first alternative.