Fierce Competition in the Year of the Fire Horse... 'Who Will Be the Final Three?'

Three Men and Three Women to Represent Korea at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games
KGA Prioritizes Top 15 World-Ranked Players in Selection Criteria
Fierce Competition Expected Among Male Players for Military Service Exemption

The Year of the Fire Horse has dawned. The domestic golf community is facing a significant tournament this year: the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, which will kick off in September.

The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games are scheduled to open on September 19 and close on October 4. The event holds particular importance for male golfers. Winning a gold medal in either the team or individual event grants immediate military service exemption, allowing athletes to continue their professional careers without interruption. The field is already heating up, with both male and female players striving to secure their tickets to the Asian Games.

Kim Juhyung is focusing his efforts to compete in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games scheduled for September. Photo by AFP Yonhap News

There are four gold medals up for grabs in golf at the Asian Games: men's and women's individual and team events. Each country can send three players per event. In the previous Games, four men and three women participated. This year, both professionals and amateurs are eligible to compete. South Korea has won a total of 14 gold medals in Asian Games golf history-six in the men's events and eight in the women's events.

At the previous edition, the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, the men's team secured the gold medal. Professional golfers Im Sungjae and Kim Siwoo, along with then-amateurs Jang Yubin and Cho Wooyoung, represented Korea and claimed the top podium spot. This marked the first men's team gold in Asian Games golf for Korea in 13 years, since the 2010 Guangzhou Games. Im Sungjae also earned a silver medal in the individual event.

In the women's division at the Hangzhou Asian Games, professional players declined to participate, so only amateurs competed. Yoo Hyunjoo, Kim Min-sol, and Lim Jiyu represented Korea. The women's team won silver behind Thailand, and Yoo Hyunjoo secured bronze in the individual event. Currently, the top three Korean women in the world rankings are Kim Hyojoo (8th), Kim Seiyoung (10th), and Yoo Haeran (13th). Due to the schedule of the LPGA Tour and other commitments, it is expected to be difficult for these top-ranked players to participate in the Asian Games this year as well.

The Korea Golf Association (KGA) held its second Performance Enhancement Committee meeting in July last year and established the selection criteria for the national team for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. The top 15 Korean players in the world rankings for both men and women were designated as the primary candidate pool. The world ranking reference date will be announced later, based on the registration date for candidate players at the beginning of this year.

The top-ranked Korean players within the world’s top 15 will be given priority for Asian Games selection. Once three players are selected, they will represent Korea as the national team at the Asian Games. If fewer than three Korean players within the top 15 are willing to participate, the opportunity will be passed to the highest-ranked players in the KGA rankings. The selection period runs from the Song-Am Amateur Championship this year until the Monday before the final roster submission for the Asian Games.

The biggest point of interest is the final men’s roster. Since a gold medal brings military service exemption, there is a high possibility that top-ranked professional male golfers will choose to participate. Currently, the top three Korean men in the world rankings are Im Sungjae (41st), Kim Siwoo (47th), and An Byeonghun (98th), all of whom play on the PGA Tour. However, since they have already resolved their military obligations, they may opt out of the Asian Games.

Kim Sunghyun is ranked 161st in the world, making him the fifth highest-ranked Korean player. Photo by AFP News Agency

The next highest-ranked player after these three is Kim Juhyung. Although he did not compete at the Hangzhou Asian Games, he represented Korea at the 2024 Paris Olympics, achieving the best-ever Olympic result for Korean men's golf by finishing seventh. Last year, Kim Juhyung played in 26 PGA Tour events, with his best finish being a tie for seventh at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am-his only top-10 result. He was ranked 21st in the men’s world golf rankings at the end of 2024 but has since dropped to 107th.

At age 20, in 2022, he won the Wyndham Championship on the PGA Tour as a special temporary member, becoming the youngest Korean winner ever (20 years, 1 month, 18 days). He has collected three career PGA Tour victories. If he performs well early in the season, he could earn a spot at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

This is a scene of South Korean male golf players cheering on the podium after winning the gold medal in the team event at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Next in line is Kim Sunghyun, who is ranked 161st in the world. He began his career in the United States on the 2022 PGA Korn Ferry (second division) Tour and debuted on the PGA Tour in 2023. In 2024, he dropped to 130th on the money list and temporarily lost his tour card, but he returned to the PGA Tour after finishing eighth in the points rankings on last year’s Korn Ferry Tour. Now that he is back on the biggest stage, he has the opportunity to earn more ranking points. Following Kim Sunghyun are Ok Taehun, ranked 177th, and Lee Junghwan, ranked 198th, both of whom compete on the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA) Tour.