‘Daesang’ Ham Jeong-woo "This Time It's Saudi"

LIV Golf Promotion Tournament Participation
Top 3 Earn Qualification for Next Year's LIV League
Gogun Taek, Jeong Chanmin, Kang Kyungnam, Kim Bio Join

It is the Saudi trip of Ham Jeong-woo, the ‘Korean Tour Player of the Year’.

Starting from the 8th (local time), he will participate in the LIV Golf Promotion Tournament held for three days at Abu Dhabi Golf Club (par 72, 7,632 yards) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This is the first tournament where LIV offers a chance to enter the regular tour. A total of 73 players from 23 countries will compete. The top three players will receive tickets to participate in next year’s LIV League. The total prize money is $1.5 million (about 1.97 billion KRW), with the winner’s prize set at $200,000 (about 260 million KRW).

Ham Jung-woo aims to secure a spot by participating in the LIV Golf Promotion Tournament.

Ham Jeong-woo is the ‘number one in Korea.’ In the 2023 season of the Korean Professional Golf Association (KPGA) Korean Tour, which ended last month, he recorded 11 top-10 finishes including one victory. He ranked first in the Player of the Year standings (6,062 points) and third in prize money (632.52 million KRW). Notably, he received the Genesis Player of the Year award for the first time in his career. Along with a bonus prize of 100 million KRW, he earned a Genesis vehicle, a five-year Korean Tour card, direct entry to the final stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying (Q) School, and a one-year DP World Tour card. Ham said, “Receiving the Player of the Year award has provided a stepping stone to upgrade my career. This feels like a great opportunity. I will use the 100 million KRW bonus as expenses to challenge overseas tournaments.”

Along with Ham Jeong-woo, top domestic players are knocking on the door of the LIV League sponsored by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). This includes this year’s top winner Ko Gun-taek (3 wins), ‘long hitter’ Jeong Chan-min with 2 wins, veteran Kang Kyung-nam with 11 career wins, and Kim Bi-o who has 9 wins on domestic and international tours. Moon Kyung-jun, Lee Tae-hee, Lee Jeong-hwan, Eom Jae-woong, Han Seung-soo (USA), and Lee Tae-hoon (Canada) are also challenging. The list also includes Jason Dufner, the 2013 major PGA Championship winner, and Kyle Stanley, who has two PGA Tour wins (both from the USA).

The tournament is a 72-hole stroke play event. Players who finish tied for 20th place or better after the first round advance to the second round, where scores are ‘reset’ and they compete against players who directly enter the second round. Kim Si-hwan (USA), who played in this year’s LIV League but had poor results and was relegated to this tournament, will also start from the second round. After the second round, players who finish tied for 20th place or better will compete in a 36-hole match on the final day with scores reset to zero.