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Current season, competition or edition: 2024 Korean Tour | |
Formerly | SBS Korean Tour |
---|---|
Sport | Golf |
Founded | 1978 |
First season | 1978 |
Countries | Based in South Korea [lower-alpha 1] |
Most titles | Order of Merit titles: Choi Sang-ho (9) Tournament wins: Choi Sang-ho (43) |
Official website | www |
The Korean Tour is a men's professional golf tour run by the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) of South Korea. In 2011, it had total prize money of about US$14 million.
Professional golf in Korea dates back to the mid 20th century. The Korean Professional Golf Championship and the Korean Open were launched in 1958 and the KPGA was founded in 1963. Various other tournaments were created over the following decades.
The KPGA's tours serve as feeders for richer tours around the world. Substantial numbers of Korean golfers have played on the Asian Tour and the Japan Golf Tour, and a few have made it onto the PGA Tour or the European Tour. Notable examples include Yang Yong-eun, who was the first Korean to win a men's major golf championship, and K. J. Choi, the first Korean-born PGA Tour winner whose most notable win was the 2011 Players Championship.
In June 2004, the tour signed a title sponsorship agreement with Seoul Broadcasting System, being renamed as the SBS Korean Tour. The agreement was reported to be worth ₩ 15,000,000,000 over five years. [1]
In December 2022, it was announced by the European Tour that the KPGA had extended their partnership with them and the PGA Tour. As part of the expansion, the leading player on the Korean Tour Order of Merit was given status onto the European Tour for the following season. [2]
In 2011, there were 17 events on the main tour. All these tournament have prize funds of at least 300 million won (approximately US$300,000). Four have prize funds of 1 billion won (US$1 million) while the Ballantine's Championship has a prize fund of 2.2 million euros (approximately US$3.1 million). Total prize money for the tour is approximately 12 billion won (US$12 million).
Until 2011, regular Korean Tour events did not carry Official World Golf Ranking points. The first regular tournament to carry World Rankings Points was the 2011 Twayair Open. [3] Korean Tour events carry a minimum of nine OWGR points for the winner, increased from six in 2016.
The KPGA launched a developmental tour in 1999. In 2007 there are two developmental tours. Both of them consist of two-day, 36-hole tournaments, and the dates of the tours do not clash. The Bear River Tour consists of ten tournaments with prize funds of 60 million won (US$60,000) each, and the SBS Golf Calloway Tour has eight tournaments with prize funds of 40 million won (US$40,000) each.
The KPGA also runs a senior tour and a series of events for teaching pros. The Korean Senior Open Golf Championship was launched in 1996.
Women's professional golf has a high profile in South Korea, due to the immense international success of Korean women golfers such as Pak Se-ri since the mid-1990s. There is a separate LPGA of Korea Tour for women.
Source: [4]
The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour and the developmental Challenge Tour; the second tier of men's professional golf in Europe. The tour's headquarters are at the Wentworth Club in Virginia Water, Surrey, England. The European Tour was established by the British-based Professional Golfers' Association through the 1970s, and responsibility was transferred to an independent PGA European Tour organisation in 1984.
Pak Se-ri or Se-ri Pak is a South Korean former professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour from 1998 to 2016. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2007.
Choi Kyung-Ju, commonly known as K. J. Choi, is a South Korean professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. Since turning pro in 1994, he has won more than twenty professional golf tournaments worldwide, including eight on the PGA Tour. His most notable victory came at the 2011 Players Championship, and he has spent 40 weeks in the top-10 of the world rankings.
Yang Yong-eun, also called Y. E. Yang, is a South Korean professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He was previously a member of the PGA Tour, where he won twice, including most notably the 2009 PGA Championship when he came from behind to defeat Tiger Woods, thus winning the first major championship by a male player born in Asia. He is occasionally known by the nickname The Tiger Killer.
Bae Sang-moon, or Sang-moon Bae, is a South Korean professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.
The 2011 Korean Tour was the 34th season on the Korean Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Korea since it was formed in 1978.
The 2017 Korean Tour was the 40th season on the Korean Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Korea since it was formed in 1978.
The 2009 Korean Tour, titled as the 2009 SBS Korean Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd season on the Korean Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Korea since it was formed in 1978.
The 2008 Korean Tour, titled as the 2008 SBS Korean Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st season on the Korean Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Korea since it was formed in 1978.
Kim Do-hoon is a South Korean professional golfer. He is also called Kim Do-hoon 753 to distinguish him from another South Korean golfer also called Kim Do-hoon, 753 being his membership number at the Korea Professional Golfers' Association. He won twice on the Korean Tour, the 2010 Tomato Savings Bank Open and the 2013 Munsingwear Matchplay Championship.
The 2022 Korean Tour was the 45th season on the Korean Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Korea since it was formed in 1978.
The 2023 Korean Tour was the 46th season on the Korean Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Korea since it was formed in 1978.
The 2006 Korean Tour, titled as the 2006 SBS Korean Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 29th season on the Korean Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Korea since it was formed in 1978.
The 2005 Korean Tour, titled as the 2005 SBS Korean Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th season on the Korean Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Korea since it was formed in 1978.
The 2003 Korean Tour was the 26th season on the Korean Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Korea since it was formed in 1978.
The 2000 Korean Tour was the 23rd season on the Korean Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Korea since it was formed in 1978.
The 1999 Korean Tour was the 22nd season on the Korean Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Korea since it was formed in 1978.
The 1998 Korean Tour was the 21st season on the Korean Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Korea since it was formed in 1978.
The 1997 Korean Tour was the 20th season on the Korean Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Korea since it was formed in 1978.
The 1996 Korean Tour was the 19th season on the Korean Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Korea since it was formed in 1978.