Yang Ji-ho is aiming for back-to-back tour victories and a record that has stood for 55 years.
Yang will compete in the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) Tour KPGA Championship (total purse 1.6 billion won), which runs for four days starting Thursday at A-One CC in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province. A victory at this event would give Yang consecutive wins following his triumph at the Korea Open two weeks ago. Moreover, no player has swept both the Korea Open and the KPGA Championship in the same year since Han Jang-sang in 1971.
Challenging the 55-year record, Yang said, "My goal is naturally to win. I always enter tournaments aiming for victory, but I would be satisfied finishing in the top 20 without being too greedy." He added, "If I can stay within the top 20 through the third round, I will then aim for the win." He continued, "The KPGA Championship has the longest history among domestic professional golf tournaments, so I particularly want to perform well. A-One CC is also a course I personally like, so my expectations are high. If I defend when I need to defend and play aggressively when I need to attack depending on the situation, I can expect a good score."
The tournament features a total purse of 1.6 billion won with 320 million won going to the winner. It is not only the largest-purse event among the remaining first-half tournaments but also boasts the second-largest prize money among all tournaments including the second half, trailing only the Genesis Championship (total purse $4 million, winner's prize $680,000).
Having already claimed 500 million won in prize money (excluding a 200 million won bonus) by winning the Korea Open, Yang would essentially wrap up the prize money race if he also captures the KPGA Championship. Winning this week's tournament would also earn him 1,300 Player of the Year points, making it a two-birds-with-one-stone opportunity.
Furthermore, Mun Do-yeop, who leads the Player of the Year points race (2,186 points) and ranks fifth in prize money (218 million won), will not be playing this week as he competes at the LIV Golf Andalucia event.
Whether Ok Tae-hoon will achieve his first win of the season is also drawing attention. Starting with his victory at last year's KPGA Championship, Ok collected three trophies in total to claim both the Genesis Player of the Year award and the prize money title. While he has yet to win this year, Ok is chasing his fourth career victory after finishing runner-up at the season-opening DB Insurance Promy Open.
"Aside from the opener, my performance has not yet matched expectations," Ok said. "But my shot and putting feel have been gradually improving in recent training, so I will raise my concentration at this week's tournament and show my best effort."
In addition, this season's "Winner's Circle" members Lee Sang-yeop, Choi Chan, and Song Min-hyuk will also tee it up to vie for the trophy.
