'No.1 Seed' Seo Yoseop "Excited About 2 Consecutive Match Play Wins"

Descente Korea Match Play: Lee Seung-chan Defeats Opponents
Park Sang-hyun, Ham Jeong-woo, Lee Jae-kyung, Ok Tae-hoon Continue 2 Consecutive Wins
Last Year's Champ Park Eun-shin Records 1 Win 1 Draw, Kim Bi-o 1 Win 1 Loss

‘No. 1 seed’ Seo Yoseop continues his 2-win streak.

On the afternoon of the 1st, Seo Yoseop defeated Lee Seungchan by 3 holes in the second match of the group stage at the 13th Descente Korea Match Play (total prize money 800 million KRW, winner's prize 160 million KRW) of the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) Korean Tour, held at Kingsdale Golf Club in Chungju, Chungbuk (par 72, 7,323 yards). This marks his second consecutive win after a 7-hole victory over Kang Minseong earlier that morning. Seo Yoseop will face Lee Jaekyung, who also secured 2 wins, to compete for the top spot in their group.

Seo Yoseop is making an iron shot on the 2nd hole of the second match in the group stage of the Descente Korea Match Play.
[Photo by KPGA]

Last year’s Genesis Points runner-up Seo Yoseop received the overall No. 1 seed after No. 1 Kim Youngsoo withdrew from the tournament. The best performance by a No. 1 seed in this tournament’s history was 5th place by Kim Taehun in 2021. Seo Yoseop was the runner-up in 2019. Seo said, "It was mentally and physically tough as the matches were close," adding, "Lee Jaekyung and I agreed, ‘Let’s both get 2 wins and face each other in the third match.’ Now it’s reality. I will definitely win."

The tournament features 64 participants competing for the championship. Similar to the FIFA World Cup, players are divided into 16 groups for the group stage, with the top player from each group advancing to the round of 16. A win earns 2 points, a draw 1 point, and a loss 0 points. If there is a tie for first place in a group, a sudden-death playoff is held. From the round of 16 onward, matches are played in a one-on-one match play format.

Last year’s champion Park Eunshin drew with Ha Chunghoon, holding a record of 1 win and 1 draw. Lee Hyeongjun, the only two-time winner of this tournament, was eliminated regardless of the third match result with 1 draw and 1 loss. Kang Taeyoung, Bae Yongjun, Kim Mingyu, Jeon Garam, Shin Yonggu (Canada), Lee Wonjun (Australia), Bae Yunho, Park Sanghyun, Jeon Sunghyun, Ok Taehun, Ham Jungwoo, and Choi Mincheol all secured 2 wins. Kim Bio holds a record of 1 win and 1 loss.