DP WORLD TOUR, PGA TOUR, 관계 확장 발표 대한프로골프협회와 함께
DP WORLD TOUR, PGA TOUR ANNOUNCE EXPANSION OF RELATIONSHIP
WITH KOREA PROFESSIONAL GOLFERS’ ASSOCIATION
US $2M Korea Championship to debut in April as part of DP World Tour, PGA TOUR support of Korean golf; KPGA Genesis Point Winner Youngsoo Kim to earn DPWT membership
The DP World Tour and PGA TOUR jointly announced today an expansion to the relationship with the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA) that will see the KPGA’s Genesis Point Award Winner earn membership onto the DP World Tour for the ensuing season, beginning with the current 2023 campaign, and the launch of a brand new US$2 million tournament in Korea.
A raft of benefits will also see the top finishers on the Genesis Point list earning entry into various stages of the DP World Tour Qualifying School, which takes place later in 2023. The three Tours intend to further discuss expansion of additional pathway commitments for 2024 and beyond.
Youngsoo Kim has secured this exemption for the 2023 DP World Tour season after finishing the 2022 campaign as the Genesis Point Award Winner, having claimed his first career KPGA victory in October at the Genesis Championship before winning again at the season-ending LG Signature Players Championship. As announced previously, as a result of winning the Genesis Championship in October, he will also gain entry into July’s Genesis Scottish Open, the Rolex Series event which is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR.
As part of its commitment to supporting professional golf in Korea, the DP World Tour will also mark its return to the country for the first time in 10 years next April for the inaugural Korea Championship. The tournament, which will be co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and KPGA, will be played at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon with a US$2 million prize fund on offer. Additional information regarding the Korea Championship will follow in due course.
Today’s announcement further enhances the playing opportunities for international players to compete at the highest levels of men’s professional golf. As part of this system, the leading 10 players on DP World Tour’s Race To Dubai Rankings [in addition to those already exempt] will earn cards on the PGA TOUR, beginning with the 2024 season – an aspect of the partnership between the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour announced in June.
In addition to the exemptions confirmed today, the KPGA will also work alongside the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR on other key business areas, including strategic development and commercial growth, as well as future collaboration on media rights strategy and enhancements to the player pathway, including access to the Korn Ferry Tour.
Keith Pelley, Chief Executive Officer of the DP World Tour, said, “The KPGA has a strong history of producing exceptional talent and we are delighted to confirm these formal pathways, giving players clearly defined routes to showcase their skills on the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR.
“Combined with our tournament in Korea next April, we look forward to working closely with the KPGA and the PGA TOUR to inspire, and to enable, future generations of Korean players to reach the very top of the men’s professional game.”
Jay Monahan, Commissioner of the PGA TOUR, said: “Sungjae Im, K.H. Lee, Si Woo Kim and Joo-hyung ‘Tom’ Kim are all becoming household names in the United States thanks in large part to the contributions they made this past September for the International Team at the 2022 Presidents Cup. What each of those young stars has in common is that they all honed their craft at the KPGA, which continues a proud tradition of producing world-class talent each and every year. We look forward to seeing the next set of young stars from this proud golf country make their way onto the DP World Tour and perhaps subsequently onto the PGA TOUR in future seasons.”
Ja-Cheol (J.C.) Koo, Chairman of the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association, said, “It has been our honour to see Korean Tour winners go on to have similar success at the top echelon of the men’s professional game. We are certain that today’s announcement will help further grow the sport in Korea, and we are grateful to be officially welcomed into the meritocracy that the men’s professional game provides.”
Korean stars who have previously been victorious on both the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR include K.J. Choi, Y.E. Yang and Seung-Yul Noh. Choi jointly holds the record for most PGA TOUR victories by an Asian golfer with eight, including the 2011 PLAYERS Championship.
Choi said: “I’m delighted the KPGA, DP World Tour and PGA TOUR have expanded their relationship which will only benefit Korean golfers. Our young players will have added motivation to excel in the game as there is now a clear career pathway for them to compete on the KPGA, and subsequently play against the best players in the world on the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR. This announcement is a wonderful development for Korean golf.”
About Korea Professional Golfers’ Association
The Korea Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA) was founded in 1968 with the purpose of developing Korean professional golf. In accordance with this purpose, the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association aims to support professional golfers to improve their talents and technique and actively participate in international games to contribute to better international friendship and higher national prestige. In April 2007, the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association established the Korea Professional Golf Tour (KGT) and is currently the organizer of the Korean men’s professional golf tournament. Events on the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association count for World Golf Ranking Points and it aims to be one of the world’s 5 professional major golf tours and hosts 60 tournaments per year. Under the slogan “Together KPGA” and “Dynamic Korean Tour,” KPGA puts its best effort into making dynamic tournaments with the fans.
About DP World Tour
The DP World Tour is the main men’s professional golf Tour of the European Tour group, with a global schedule featuring a minimum of 39 tournaments in 26 different countries across the 2023 season. Formerly known as the European Tour, which was established in 1972, the 2023 DP World Tour schedule includes five Rolex Series events, along with four Major Championships, one World Golf Championship event, as well as tournaments staged around the world with a minimum prize of $2million for all events solely sanctioned by the DP World Tour.
The season concludes with the final Rolex Series event, the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, where the winner of the Tour’s season-long competition, the Race to Dubai Rankings in partnership with Rolex, will be crowned.
DP World, the leading provider of global smart end-to-end supply chain and logistics solutions, is the title partner of the DP World Tour, which is administered by the European Tour group.
About PGA TOUR
By showcasing golf’s greatest players, the PGA TOUR engages, inspires and positively impacts our fans, partners and communities worldwide.
The PGA TOUR, headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, co-sanctions tournaments on the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, Korn Ferry Tour, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and PGA TOUR Canada. Members on the PGA TOUR represent the world’s best players, hailing from 29 countries and territories. The PGA TOUR has long-term domestic distribution partnerships for broadcast coverage on CBS, NBC and Golf Channel and video streaming service on ESPN+. Internationally, PGA TOUR coverage is available across 200+ countries and territories in 27 languages via 43 local broadcast partners, in addition to the digital streaming service platform GOLFTV powered by PGA TOUR. Virtually all tournaments are organized as non-profit organizations to maximize charitable giving, and to date, tournaments across all Tours have generated more than $3.37 billion.
DP WORLD TOUR, PGA TOUR, 관계 확장 발표
대한프로골프협회와 함께
미화 200만 달러 코리아 챔피언십, DP 월드 투어의 일환으로 4월 데뷔, PGA 투어 한국 골프 지원; KPGA 제네시스 포인트 우승자 김영수, DPWT 회원권 획득
DP 월드 투어와 PGA 투어는 오늘 대한프로골프협회(KPGA)와의 관계를 확대하여 KPGA의 제네시스 포인트 어워드 우승자가 현 시즌을 시작으로 다음 시즌 DP 월드 투어 회원 자격을 얻는 것을 보게 될 것이라고 공동 발표했다.
2023년 후반에 개최되는 DP 월드 투어 퀄리파잉 스쿨의 다양한 단계에 진입할 수 있는 제네시스 포인트 목록의 상위 피니시도 많은 혜택을 볼 수 있다.
김영수는 2022년 제네시스 포인트 어워드 위너로 캠페인을 마친 후 2023년 DP 월드 투어 시즌에 대한 이 면제를 확보했으며, 시즌 종료 LG 시그니처 플레이어스 챔피언십에서 다시 우승하기 전에 제네시스 챔피언십에서 10월 KPGA 통산 첫 우승을 차지했다. . 앞서 예고한 대로 10월 제네시스 챔피언십 우승에 따라 DP 월드투어와 PGA 투어가 공동 주관하는 롤렉스 시리즈 이벤트인 제네시스 스코티시 오픈(7월)에도 출전하게 됐다.
DP월드투어도 국내 프로골프 지원의 일환으로 내년 4월 제1회 코리아챔피언십을 계기로 10년 만에 국내에 돌아온다. DP 월드투어와 KPGA가 공동 주최하는 이번 대회는 상금 200만 달러(약 21억원)가 걸려 인천 잭 니클라우스 골프클럽 코리아에서 열린다. 한국 선수권 대회에 대한 추가 정보는 추후 공지될 예정.
오늘의 발표는 국제 선수들이 최고 수준의 남자 프로 골프에서 경쟁할 수 있는 경기 기회를 더욱 강화하고 이 시스템의 일환으로 DP World Tour의 Race To Dubai 랭킹 상위 10명의 선수는 [이미 면제된 선수에 추가하여] 2024년 시즌부터 PGA TOUR 카드를 받게 되며 오는 6월 DP 월드투어가 발표하게 된다.
KPGA는 오늘 확인된 예외 사항 외에도 DP 월드 투어 및 PGA 투어와 함께 전략적 개발 및 상업적 성장뿐만 아니라 미디어 권한 전략 및 플레이어 경로 개선에 대한 향후 협력을 포함한 다른 주요 비즈니스 영역에서 협력할 것이며 Korn Ferry Tour에 대한 액세스를 포함한다.
DP World Tour의 Keith Pelley CEO는 “KPGA는 뛰어난 인재를 배출한 강력한 역사를 가지고 있으며 이러한 공식적인 경로를 확인하여 선수들이 DP World Tour에서 자신의 기술을 선보일 수 있는 경로를 제공하믐데 있다” 이어 “내년 4월 한국에서 열리는 대회와 함께 KPGA, PGA 투어와 긴밀히 협력해 차세대 한국 선수들이 남자 프로 경기에서 정상에 오를 수 있도록 영감을 주고 가능하게 되기를 기대한다”고 말했다.
제이 모나한(Jay Monahan) PGA 투어 커미셔너는 “임성재, 이규현, 김시우, ‘톰’ 김주형은 모두 지난 9월 기여한 덕분에 미국에서 누구나 아는 이름이 됐다”고 말했다. 2022년 프레지던츠컵 인터내셔널 팀을 위해, 이들 젊은 스타들의 공통점은 매년 세계적 수준의 인재를 배출하는 자랑스러운 전통을 이어가고 있는 KPGA에서 실력을 연마했다는 것이다. 이 자랑스러운 골프 국가의 차세대 젊은 스타들이 DP 월드 투어에 진출하고 향후 시즌에는 PGA 투어에 진출하는 것을 보게 될 것입니다.”
구자철(J.C.) 대한프로골프협회 회장은 “코리안투어 우승자들이 남자 프로 경기에서 비슷한 성공을 거둔 것을 보게 되어 영광이다. 오늘의 발표는 한국에서 스포츠를 더욱 성장시키는 데 도움이 될 것이며, 남자 프로 경기가 제공하는 실력주의에 공식적으로 환영받게 되어 감사합니다.”라고 말했다.
이전에 DP 월드 투어와 PGA 투어에서 모두 우승한 한국 스타로는 최경주,양용은·노승열등으로 최경주는 2011년 플레이어스 챔피언십을 포함해 8승으로 아시아인 골퍼 최다 PGA 투어 우승 기록을 공동 보유하고 있다.
최 감독은 “KPGA, DP 월드 투어, PGA 투어가 한국 골퍼들에게만 도움이 되는 관계를 확장하게 돼 기쁘다”며 “이제 명확한 진로가 생겼기 때문에 우리 어린 선수들이 경기에서 더 잘할 수 있는 동기를 부여할 것”이라고 말했다.
