KPGA's Genesis Championship merges with DP World Tour

Golf

Published: 04 Apr. 2024, 15:55

KPGA's Genesis Championship merges with DP World Tour

Jang Yu-bin takes a driver tee shot on the 18th hole of the second round of the Genesis Championship at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon, on October 13, 2023. [YONHAP]

The Genesis Championship on the KPGA Tour will be co-sanctioned by the European DP World Tour beginning this year, tournament sponsor Genesis announced in a press release Wednesday.

The KPGA event will merge with the DP World Tour’s Korea Championship Presented by Genesis under a three-year partnership, according to the release. This year’s tournament will run from October 24 to 27 at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon.

The tournament will offer a total purse of $4 million and host 90 players from the DP World Tour and 30 from the KPGA.

“We are excited to open a new chapter in the Korean golf scene where global players and Korean players can compete and showcase their skills in Korea,” Genesis Global Head Mike Song said in the press release.

The announcement comes as Genesis, a subsidiary of Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Group, has expanded its footprint across the world of professional golf. It is also the title partner of the Genesis Invitational on the PGA Tour and the Genesis Scottish Open, co-sanctioned by the PGA and the DP World Tour.

From Incheon to the links of Scotland: Genesis' journey in golf sponsorship

Last August, the European DP World Tour returned to Korea for the first time since 2013, also under a partnership with the KPGA, for the four-day Korea Championship Presented by Genesis at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club.

Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal won the tournament, edging out more than 150 golfers for the grand prize of $340,000, the biggest slice of a total $2 million purse.

The KPGA ran the Genesis Championship in October, again at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club, where Park Sang-hyun took home the win.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]