Lee Kyounghoon Returns to the Field After One Year

Set for PGA Tour Cognizant Classic appearance
Returning after first round of last year’s Houston Open in March
Hip injury rehab, tune-up on Korn Ferry Tour
Fond memories from 4th-place finish at this event in 2024

Lee Kyounghoon is returning to the field after about one year, having recovered from a hip injury.

He will make his comeback at the Cognizant Classic on the PGA Tour (total prize money 9.6 million dollars), which tees off on the PGA National Champion Course (par 71, 7,223 yards) in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, on the 26th (local time). This will be Lee Kyounghoon’s first appearance in a regular PGA Tour event in 11 months, since he completed the first round of the Houston Open in March last year.

Lee Kyounghoon will make his comeback at the Cognizant Classic after one year. AFP Yonhap News

Lee Kyounghoon is a player who earned one win each in the 2021 and 2022 PGA Tour seasons. After that, due to a hip injury, he was unable to fully compete in the 2025 season. Following a tied-67th finish at the WM Phoenix Open in February last year and then five consecutive missed cuts, he withdrew after completing the first round of the Houston Open.

Earlier this month, he played twice on the Korn Ferry Tour, the PGA Tour’s secondary circuit, finishing tied for 32nd in one event and missing the cut in the other, as he prepared for his return to the main tour. Although he missed the cut at this tournament last year, he also has good memories here, having tied for fourth place in 2024 when the event changed its name from the Honda Classic to the Cognizant Classic.

Brooks Koepka, who left LIV Golf and returned to the PGA Tour, last year’s champion at this event Joe Highsmith, and Jacob Bridgeman of the United States, who was runner-up here last year and captured the Genesis Invitational title last week, are among the key entrants. From Korea, Kim Joohyung and Kim Sunghyun will compete, while Kim Siwoo and Im Sungjae will not play.