"It's too bad."' Lim Sung-jae leads 3 rounds in a row → Final 4th place... Fitzpatrick turned the tables on the PGA Balspar Championship

*This content was translated by AI.

Lim Sung-jae (28, CJ) failed to win the championship, allowing a turnaround on the last day even though he had maintained the lead for three consecutive days. The challenge of winning three games in four years and five months will be postponed to the next opportunity.

Lim Sung-jae tied two birdies and five bogeys for a three-over 74 in the final fourth round of the PGA Tour's Balspa Championship (total prize money of $9.1 million) at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club Copperhead Course (par 71) in Palm Harbor, Florida on the 23rd (Korea time).

Lim Sung-jae, who recorded a total of 8-under 276, finished the tournament in fourth place with Marco Penzi (England) and Xander Shopley (USA).

The slump on the last day was painful. Lim Sung-jae took the lead alone from the first day of the competition and kept the top of the leaderboard until the third round. After the Shriners Children's Open in October 2021, he was on the verge of winning three games on the tour, but his shot sense shook in the final round and he lost the number of strokes.

Lim Sung-jae, who started the final round as the lone lead, one stroke ahead of second place, struggled from the beginning. He got off to a shaky start by making consecutive bogeys with a tee shot and a second shot disturbance in the second and third holes (par 4). He then lost four shots in the first half alone, with shots falling into bunkers in the sixth and eighth holes (par 4) and (par 3). He also added a bogey in the 10th hole (par 4), the first hole in the second half, and his ranking once fell sharply.

In a crisis situation, Lim Sung-jae showed his afterthought. He turned the mood around by making his first birdie on the day at the 11th hole (par 5). He showed off another birdie at the 16th hole (par 4), pulling the reins of his pursuit until the end. However, he failed to reduce the extra pars in the remaining holes and had to settle for a tie for fourth place.

Lim Sung-jae, who missed the two consecutive tournaments earlier this month after skipping the tournament in January and February this year due to a right wrist injury, fired a signal of revival by entering the top 5 of this tournament.

Matt Fitzpatrick (England) lifted the trophy. Fitzpatrick scored a clean game with only three birdies without a bogey in the final round, recording 11-under 273 overall, beating second-place David Lipsky (10-under 274) by one stroke to win the upset. It is his third career win in three years since RBC Heritage in April 2023. The prize money amounts to $1.638 million (about 2.467 billion won).

Korean players also performed well. Kim Sung-hyun reduced one stroke on the final day and tied for seventh with a 7-under 277 total. It is the first top 10 in his eighth appearance this season and the first top 10 on the PGA Tour in a year and 10 months since the CJ Cup in May 2024. Kim Joo-hyung tied for 18th with a 4-under 280 total.

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*This content was translated by AI.