Expert Picks: The American Express

There’s no way the International side can beat a loaded U.S. team, right? Not so fast.

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World Golf Hall of Fame will welcome its next class of inductees on March 9, 2022 during the week of THE PLAYERS Championship. The class includes competitors Tiger Woods and Susie Maxwell Berning along with contributors Tim Finchem and the late Marion Hollins. The Induction Class was announced earlier this year with the ceremony originally scheduled to take place in 2021. "Given the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic, moving the ceremony back a year will give us a better opportunity to properly recognize and honor this important class," said Greg McLaughlin, chief executive officer of the World Golf Foundation. "We look forward to shining a light on their achievements and inspiring future golfers around the world through this ceremony and celebration." The inductees, who now will be recognized as the Class of 2022, will be enshrined at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, as part of the activities surrounding THE PLAYERS, the PGA TOUR's flagship event. A full schedule of Hall of Fame events surrounding the Class of 2022 Induction Ceremony will be released in the coming months. Additional information on the Class of 2022 is featured below. To learn more about the World Golf Hall of Fame, the Class of 2022 and our existing members visit www.worldgolfhalloffame.org. World Golf Hall of Fame - Class of 2022 Tiger Woods has won 93 worldwide events including a record-tying 82 on the PGA TOUR. He's a 15-time Major Champion and a three-time winner of the career Grand Slam. Woods completed the "Tiger Slam" in 2000-01 when he became the first golfer since Bobby Jones to hold all four major championship titles at the same time. A two-time champion of THE PLAYERS and the first two-time winner of the FedExCup, Woods has competed on eight Ryder Cup and nine Presidents Cup teams which includes when he served as a playing captain of the victorious U.S. Presidents Cup Team in 2019. He is an 11-time PGA TOUR Player of the Year winner and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019 following his fifth career victory at the Masters. Four-time Major Champion Susie Maxwell Berning began playing golf at the age of 15 and won three-straight Oklahoma State High School Golf Championships. She was the first female to be offered a golf scholarship from Oklahoma City University and played on the men's team. After becoming an LPGA professional in 1964, she earned the Rookie of the Year title and went on to win 11 times including an impressive four Majors - the 1965 Women's Western Open and the U.S. Women's Open three times in 1968, 1972 and 1973 - all while balancing family life as a mother. Under Tim Finchem's 22-year tenure as the PGA TOUR Commissioner from 1994 through 2016, prize money skyrocketed, moving from under $100 million on three tours in 1994 to more than $400 million on six tours when he retired in 2017. He created signature events in today's game, including the FedExCup and the FedExCup Playoffs, the Presidents Cup and the World Golf Championships. His impact expanded beyond the PGA TOUR as he left his mark on the global game, spearheading efforts to coordinate the bid for golf's return to the Olympics, which became a reality in the 2016 Games after a 112-year absence. He also worked to ensure giving back was part of the fabric of the PGA TOUR's business model and was instrumental in founding the First Tee in 1997. Marion Hollins, one of the only female golf course developers in history, was a visionary golf course architect and pioneer of the game. Hollins won the 1921 United States Amateur and was captain of the first American Curtis Cup team in 1932. Her influence on the game stretched beyond the fairways of competitive play. One of history's few female golf course developers, she took a lead role in developing the Monterey Peninsula into a golf mecca, which is now home to some of the biggest tournaments in play.

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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Sungjae Im is tireless, and no longer winless. The 21-year-old South Korean started fast and finished stronger Sunday, winning The Honda Classic by one shot over Mackenzie Hughes and Tommy Fleetwood for his first career PGA TOUR victory in his 50th attempt. Related: Leaderboard | Winner’s Bag: Sungjae Im, The Honda Classic Im shot a 4-under 66 on Sunday, finishing at 6 under to match the second-highest winning score since The Honda Classic moved to PGA National in 2007. He was the TOUR’s rookie of the year last season, plus has played more tournaments and more rounds than anyone since the 2018-19 season began nearly a year and a half ago. And now, he’s a winner — the seventh from South Korea to win on TOUR, and The Honda Classic’s 10th international champion in the last 16 seasons. He’s also the fifth player to get that first win at PGA National, joining Keith Mitchell in 2019, Michael Thompson in 2013, Y.E. Yang in 2009 and Mark Wilson in 2007. Im birdied four of his first five holes, then birdied two of the final four to finish off the victory and pick up $1.26 million. Hughes, a Canadian who made the cut on the number Friday, shot his second consecutive 66. Playing alongside Im, he was part of some serious fireworks on the last two holes and missed a birdie putt at the par-5 finishing hole that would have gotten him into a tie for the top spot. Fleetwood, who is still seeking his first PGA TOUR win, started the day one shot clear of the field and started birdie-birdie to get to 7 under at that point — matching what was the low score in relation to par of the week. Then PGA National did what it usually does, that being not let anyone run away from the pack. Fleetwood made bogey on the par-4 6th and couldn’t get up and down from a greenside bunker on the par-4 8th, giving back what was left of his lead at that point and sharing the top spot at 5 under with Im and Steele. Moments after Im finished, Fleetwood made a 25-footer for birdie on the par-3 17th to get to 5 under. But Fleetwood’s second on the par-5 finishing hole leaked right and splashed into the water, and once his attempt at a miracle hole-out after a drop from 120 yards didn’t fall Im could finally exhale as the winner. That’s when Im could hug his caddie in the locker room, where he watched the last 20 minutes or so on a monitor. “I’ve been in this spot many times. … I just felt like the experience really helped,” Im said through a translator. Some of Im’s best moments have come when no one has been looking. He was third at the Zozo Championship in Japan last October, a finish totally overshadowed by Tiger Woods tying the PGA TOUR record of 82 career victories. And in November he went 3-1-1 to tie for the best showing by a player on the International Team at the Presidents Cup, but the U.S. Team captained by Woods rallied in Singles on the final day to win the trophy at Royal Melbourne. But this time, he was on center stage and embraced the moment. Hughes and Im went to the par-3 17th green — the end of the “Bear Trap” three-hole stretch — in wildly different spots. Im stuck his tee ball to just inside of 8 feet, while Hughes had nearly 55 feet left from above the hole. Hughes rolled in his most improbable birdie to an enormous roar, pulling into a tie with Im at 5 under. If Im was worried, it didn’t show. Im took a couple looks at his downhill line, took his putter back just a couple of inches and watched the ball roll in for a birdie that allowed him to reclaim his lead at 6 under — this time, for good.

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