By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Yonhap) -- With the second leg of the annual PGA Tour playoffs on the horizon this week, South Korean veteran Im Sung-jae will look to keep climbing up a key points standings and punch his ticket to next week's finale.

Im will be one of three South Korean players in the field for the BMW Championship starting Thursday at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis. He will be joined by Kim Si-woo and Tom Kim.

The top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings at the end of the Wyndham Championship on Aug. 9 qualified for the opening playoff event last week, the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tennessee. And the top 50 players after that tournament will get to tee off this week at the BMW Championship.

Im entered the Memphis tournament ranked 53rd and jumped to 40th after tying for fifth place. With another strong performance this week, Im will qualify for his eighth consecutive Tour Championship in Atlanta -- extending his own record for the longest Tour Championship appearance streak by a South Korean player.

Im was tied for second place going into the final round at the FedEx St. Jude Championship but carded a four-over 74 on Sunday to fall back. Still, it was Im's third top-five finish of this year and his fourth top-15 showing in his last five starts.

Im missed the first two months of this season while recovering from a wrist injury, which put him behind the eight ball in his pursuit of another Tour Championship appearance.

Kim Si-woo is all but assured of a trip to Atlanta, as he sits in fourth place in FedEx Cup points following his runner-up finish in Memphis behind world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.

Although Kim has not won this year, he has been one of the tour's most consistent players. He leads all players with 60 under-par rounds and 49 sub-70 rounds. He has the second-most top-10 finishes with 11, just one back of the leader, Scheffler. Kim also moved up to his career-best 13th in the latest world rankings.

He has not played at the Tour Championship since 2023.

Tom Kim remained at 26th in the FedEx Cup standings after tying for 12th in Memphis. He has only played at one Tour Championship in his career, back in 2023.

Tom Kim is the only South Korean to have won on the PGA Tour this year, having claimed the Genesis Scottish Open title in July for his first victory since October 2023.

jeeho@yna.co.kr

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