Korea's Kim Si-woo has dual mission at BMW Championship

Korea’s Kim Si-woo has all to play for at the BMW Championship, the second of three FedExCup Playoffs events, in Colorado this week, with two big goals providing the drive for him to step up his game.

Kim Si-woo plays his shot from the seventh tee during the first round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind on in Memphis, Tennessee on Aug. 15. [GETTY IMAGES]

Korea’s Kim Si-woo has all to play for at the BMW Championship, the second of three FedExCup Playoffs events, in Colorado this week, with two big goals providing the drive for him to step up his game.

The four-time PGA TOUR winner tees up at Castle Pines Golf Club with the intention of breaking into the top-30 of the FedExCup points list and qualify for the Playoffs Finale, the Tour Championship next week. Kim is presently ranked 44th after last week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship.

A strong week is also required for Kim to keep alive his hopes of earning a spot in the International Team to face the U.S. Team in the Presidents Cup in Royal Montreal next month. Currently 14th on the team roster, the top-6 after this week’s BMW Championship will secure automatic spots, with captain Mike Weir naming six more picks after the Tour Championship.

“My goal at the start of the year was to make the Tour Championship and Presidents Cup team. Both are not guaranteed yet, so I have to try my best this week,” said Kim.

Since his Tour debut in 2016, he has qualified for the Tour Championship twice, finishing T10 at East Lake in 2016 to finish 17th on the final FedExCup standings, and T20 last season. He only has one top-10 in 21 career Playoffs events, a record he desperately needs to rectify to extend his 2024 season.

Compatriots Im Sung-jae and An Byeong-hun, who are 10th and 15th respectively on the FedExCup rankings, are virtually assured of teeing up at the Tour Championship, which will use a staggered-scoring format based on positions after this week.

“I don’t know exactly what I have to do. My guess is to get a top-10 and hopefully get into next week. The situation is hard but I look forward to playing well here,” said Kim. “The (high) altitude is hard to calculate and you have to do a lot of yardage work. It’s hilly and a hard walk. But the golf course looks good and I’m excited to play.”

Irrespective of how his week plays out, Kim is pleased to secure his top-50 status, which guarantees starts in all eight Signature tournaments next season. Over the past eight months, Kim has been a model of consistency, with only two missed cuts from 20 starts to go along with one top-10 and nine other top-25 finishes. “No matter what, I’m still happy with my season and being in the top-50. It is huge for next year with the Signature events which is exciting,” he said.

He hopes to be in reckoning for a third appearance in the Presidents Cup where he was the International Team’s leading scorer with three points in 2022, which included a memorable Fourball win alongside Tom Kim against Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele on Saturday afternoon and a Singles victory over Justin Thomas on the final day where he boldly “shushed” the boisterous American crowds.

“It’s hard to get into the top-6 but hopefully I can play good for a captain’s pick. I’m sitting on the edge, I guess. Just hope to play well and have a chance,” he said.

BY CHUAH CHOO CHIANG [kjdsports@joongang.co.kr]