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Korean rookie Lee Seung-taek set for debut at PGA Tour's season opener in Hawaii

Published: 13 Jan. 2026, 16:31

Korean golfer Lee Seung-taek plays his shot from the eighth tee during the second round of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry on Dye's Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass on Dec. 13, 2024, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. [GETTY IMAGES]

Korean rookie Lee Seung-taek will make his PGA Tour debut this week when the 2026 season tees off in Hawaii.

Lee will be one of four Korean players in the field at the Sony Open, which starts Thursday at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The new season was scheduled to open last week with The Sentry, featuring last year's tour winners, at Kapalua Resort in Kapalua, Hawaii, but the event was canceled due to a severe drought in the area.

The Sony Open will instead kick things off, with a total purse of $9.1 million up for grabs at the par-70 course.

Lee, 30, earned his PGA Tour card by finishing inside the top 20 in the points rankings on the second-tier Korn Ferry Tour in 2025. He ended up at No. 13 on the strength of six top-10 finishes, and he was one of six players to rank among the top 20 in the standings without a victory.

Lee entered the PGA Tour's qualifying tournament by finishing fifth on the Korea PGA Tour's Player of the Year points list in 2024. After eight years on the domestic tour, Lee missed out on a PGA Tour card and instead gained Korn Ferry Tour membership. He then became first South Korean player to reach the PGA Tour via the KPGA-Korn Ferry route.

The three other Koreans playing this week are: Kim Si-woo, the 2023 Sony Open champion; Tom Kim, a three-time tour winner; and Kim Seong-hyeon, who finished eighth in last year's Korn Ferry Tour rankings to regain his PGA Tour card after making his debut there in 2023.

In the absence of the two top dogs in men's golf today, Scottie Scheffler of the United States and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, world No. 5 Russell Henley of the United States is the top-ranked player in this week's field.

The reigning U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun, the 2022 Sony Open winner Hideki Matsuyama and the defending champion Nick Taylor will also tee off this week.

Yonhap