Im Sung-jae, Kim Si-woo to represent Korea at Asian Games

Golf

Published: 27 Apr. 2022, 15:18

Im Sung-jae, Kim Si-woo to represent Korea at Asian Games

Im Sung-jae plays his shot from the second tee during the third round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana on April 23 in Avondale, Louisiana. [AFP/YONHAP]

Kim Si-woo watches his drive down the 16th fairway during the final round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament on April 17 in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. [AP/YONHAP]

PGA golfers Im Sung-jae and Kim Si-woo will represent Korea at the Hangzhou Asian Games in September.

The Korea Golf Association announced Wednesday that Im, Kim Si-woo, Jang Yu-bin and Cho Woo-young will represent Korea in the men’s golf events at the Asian Games, while Bang Shin-sil, Kim Min-byeol and Jung Ji-hyun will represent Korea in the women's events.

Im and Kim Si-woo have qualified for the Asian Games based on their world rankings. Im is world No. 19 and Kim Si-woo is No. 51.

At the Hangzhou Asian Games, the men's golf tournament will feature four players per team and the women's tournament will feature three players.

Golf made its Asian Games debut in 1982. Like the Olympics, the Asiad tournament was only open to amateurs until recently — the Olympics turned pro in 2016 and the Asian Games this year. For the Asiad, however, the Olympic Council of Asia has given participating countries the option of sending pro or amateur players to compete.

Korea has opted to take a mixed approach, offering spots to some of the top-ranked professional players while also nurturing amateur talent.

Im and Kim Si-woo will be competing for the Asiad gold medal alongside Jang, who previously won the Korea Golf Association's senior amateur golf championship, and Cho, who won the final amateur selection for the Hangzhou Asian Games.

"I am extremely happy to be able to compete at the Asian Games this year," Im said. "We, both professional and amateur golfers, will do our best to try and win the gold medal."

In the women's event, Team Korea offered spots to world No. 1 Ko Jin-young, No. 8 Kim Hyo-joo, No. 9 Park In-bee and No. 11 Kim Sei-young, but all four are unable to play.

Instead, Korea will send three amateur players in their stead, with Bang, Kim and Jung earning their spot as the top three competitors in a national team selection tournament.

The 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games golf tournament will be held at the West International Golf Club in Hangzhou, China, for four days from Sept. 15 to 18.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]