Top 15 in World Rankings as Primary Candidates
KGA Ranking Players to Be Considered if Top-Ranked Players Decline
The selection criteria for the national golf team to compete in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games have been finalized.
The Korea Golf Association announced on the 6th, "On June 30, we held the second Performance Enhancement Committee meeting and decided on the criteria for selecting next year's Asian Games national team. For the Asian Games, where three men and three women will participate, we have designated the top 15 Korean players in the men's and women's world rankings as the primary candidate pool." The reference date for the world rankings will be the registration date for candidate players in early 2026, and will be announced later.
Korean male golf players are cheering on the podium after winning the gold medal in the team event at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. Photo by Yonhap News
Accordingly, among the top 15 Korean players in the world rankings, the highest-ranked players will be given priority for selection to the Asian Games, and once three players are selected, those three will represent Korea as the national team at the 2026 Asian Games. If there are two or fewer Korean players among the top 15 in the world rankings who wish to participate in the Asian Games, the opportunity will be passed to the highest-ranked players in the Korea Golf Association rankings. The criteria apply from this year's Songam Cup Amateur Championship until the Monday before the final roster submission for the 2026 Asian Games.
In particular, for the men's team, where winning a gold medal grants military service benefits, it has become more likely that top-ranked professional players will compete in the 2026 Asian Games. At the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, professional players Im Sungjae and Kim Siwoo participated in the men's event, while then-amateurs Jang Yubin and Cho Wooyoung also represented Korea, together winning the team gold medal. Currently, the world rankings for Korean male players are: Im Sungjae at 30th, An Byeonghun at 60th, Kim Siwoo at 70th, and Kim Joohyung at 74th.
In the women's event at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, all three participants?Yoo Hyeonjo, Kim Minseol, and Lim Jiyu?were amateurs. The current world rankings for Korean female players are: Kim Hyojoo at 8th, Yoo Haeran at 9th, Ko Jin-young at 16th, and Choi Hyejin at 23rd.
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