Sungjae Im Just Set the PGA Tour Record for Most Birdies in a Season
The length of the putt was 21 feet 11 inches, and it covered some 41 years.
With that birdie roll on the par 3 second hole at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta on Sunday, Sungjae Im reached a PGA Tour record for the most birdies in a season. The circle on the scorecard was the 494th for the 23-year old South Korean had recorded in 2021, eclipsing a previous season best of 493 birdies by Steve Flesch in 2000. The Tour has kept the stat since 1980.
The record-setting birdie wasn’t enough to catapult Im into contention for the FedExCup title, as he finished T20 in the field of 30. But before the day was over, Im added four more birdies on his way to a final-round 68 and a final season total of 498 birdies.
To be fair, the left-hander Flesch played 123 rounds during his 493-birdie season, while Im completed his 128th trip during the Tour Championship finale.
However, unlike when Roger Maris hit 61 home runs in 161 games 1961 — exceeding Babe Ruth's 1927 record of 60 in 154 games — Im’s birdies mark isn’t likely to carry an asterisk.
Im started his career as a 15-year old, playing on the Japan Golf Tour. In 2018, he won twice on the Web.com Tour and was named that circuit’s Player of the Year. The following season, he was the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for 2018-19. He recorded his first PGA Tour victory at the 2020 Honda Classic and, more last November, tied for second behind Dustin Johnson at the 2020 Masters.
Im had 19 additional birdies while finishing T22 at the recent 2020 Olympics golf competition in Tokyo, but who's counting. Not the PGA Tour.