3 S. Korean players to open new PGA Tour season in exclusive-field event

Three South Korean players will begin their new PGA Tour season in a limited-field tournament in Hawaii this week.

An Byeong-hun, Im Sung-jae and Kim Si-woo will be part of a 60-player field at The Sentry, which will tee off Thursday at The Plantation Course at Kapalua in Lahaina, Hawaii. Only the tour winners and the top-50 players in the FedEx Cup standings are eligible for The Sentry.

This year’s field will feature 31 tournament winners and 29 players who earned their way by finishing inside the top 50 in FedEx Cup points.

All three South Korean players qualified for The Sentry by their FedEx Cup rankings. Last season, An had five top-10 finishes in 22 tournaments, including a runner-up performance at the Sony Open in January. He is still looking for his first PGA Tour title.

Im, a two-time winner, had eight top-10 finishes in 26 starts last season. He will be making his fifth consecutive appearance at The Sentry, and he has been in the top 10 three times. Kim, who has four career wins, had three top-10s in 25 events in 2024, two of which came in his final three starts.

Tom Kim is the top South Korean in the current world rankings at No. 21, but he didn’t qualify for The Sentry after going winless and finishing 51st in FedEx Cup points in the 2024 season.

No South Korean player has won this season-opening event. An finished alone in fourth place in the 2024 tournament at 26-under, three behind the winner, Chris Kirk of the United States. Im tied for fifth at 25-under, while Kim tied for 25th at 20-under.

Im will be chasing a career milestone this week. He has made $29,899,508 so far to rank second all time among South Korean players and 47th overall, with Choi Kyoung-ju, who now plays on the senior circuit at age 54, sitting at $32,803,596, good for 37th all time.

Im will zip past Choi with a win at The Sentry, which will net him $3.6 million. Even if he doesn’t, it is only a matter of time before Im becomes just the second South Korean player to surpass $30 million in ca