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Im Sung-jae eyes another appearance at PGA Tour playoff finale By Yoo Jee-ho SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Yonhap) -- Im Sung-jae has been climbing up the FedEx Cup points standings on the PGA Tour throughout the summer to qualify for the first two legs of the playoffs, and now he needs one more push this week to reach the final tournament for the eighth consecutive year. Im sits in 40th place in the standings entering the BMW Championship in St. Louis. With only the top 30 players after this tournament qualifying for the Tour Championship in Atlanta next week, Im says he knows exactly what he has to do and he is determined to get the job done. "I need to at least tie for sixth place this week to get to the Tour Championship and I will keep that in mind when I play," Im said in a video conference with South Korean media late Wednesday. "I would love to extend my Tour Championship streak to the eighth straight year." Im said the key to attacking Bellerive Country Club is to keep the ball in the fairway. "There are some holes with narrow fairways but greens are a bit soft here," Im said. "If I can keep hitting my second shots from the fairway, then attacking pins will not be a major problem. Greens should be mostly receptive and balls are not going to bounce off too often." Im, one of the PGA Tour's most consistent players since his debut in 2018, owns the record for the longest Tour Championship appearance streak by a South Korean player with seven. He put himself in an early hole this season, however, as he missed the first two months while recovering from a wrist injury. He also spent the majority of his offseason fulfilling his military training duties, after earning exemption from the mandatory service by winning a gold medal at the 2023 Asian Games. "I probably had the least amount of practice time in my career. I barely had time to hit balls for about two to three months," Im looked back. "And it was not easy to travel to the U.S. and start playing in tournaments right away. But those problems are behind me now and my wrist is completely healed." Perhaps affected by his lack of offseason work, Im missed the cut at each of his first two tournaments. An up-and-down stretch followed, with Im tying for fourth at the Valspar Championship in late March and then finishing outside the top 40 at the next three events, before recording a top-five finish at the Truist Championship in May. Im arrived in St. Louis with four top-15 showings at his past five tournaments, including a tie for fifth at last week's FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first playoff event. That performance vaulted him into the top 50 and gave him a spot at the BMW Championship. "Not too long ago, I was in danger of not even qualifying for the first playoff tournament," Im said. "I have been more consistent in recent weeks. I have experienced some adversity this year and I am really happy to have come this far." Im, a two-time PGA Tour winner whose last victory came in October 2021, said he would also love to end his drought this year. "Since we are nearing the end of the season, I will give everything I have to try to play well this week and hopefully next week as well," Im said. "I will then take some time off and play some tournaments in the fall. If I can notch a win late in the season, it will be icing on the cake. But I will have to take it one tournament at a time." jeeho@yna.co.kr (END) - N. Korea silent on Lee's proposal for dialogue to officially end Korean War - (2nd LD) Lee proposes dialogue with N. Korea to officially end Korean War, halt Pyongyang's nuclear program - (2nd LD) Gov't aims to supply over 230,000 additional homes in Seoul metropolitan area to tame housing prices - BIGBANG named honorary ambassador for space agency - U.S. favorability for BTS hits record 46 pct in Q2: poll - N. Korea silent on Lee's proposal for dialogue to officially end Korean War - Trump signs memo permitting foreign shipbuilders to build up to 2 U.S. ships in their shipyards - (LEAD) Lee reiterates support for four-year, two-term presidential system - (2nd LD) Lee proposes dialogue with N. Korea to officially end Korean War, halt Pyongyang's nuclear program - Bill Gates in S. Korea to discuss cooperation in next-generation nuclear reactors