Incheon: With Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf set to make its South Korea debut this week, homegrown golfer Jang Yu-bin will look to leave behind his seasonlong slump in front of partisan crowds. The breakaway tour, financed by the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, will hold LIV Golf Korea from Friday to Sunday at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon, just west of Seoul.
According to Yonhap News Agency, LIV Golf features 13 teams of four players per side, who compete for US$25 million prize money at each 54-hole tournament -- $20 million up for individual players and $5 million distributed for teams. Jang, the 2024 KPGA Korean Tour Player of the Year, pulled out of the PGA Tour's qualifying tournament to join LIV Golf's Iron Heads Golf Club (GC) last December, becoming the first South Korean national in LIV Golf. Iron Heads GC is captained by Korean American Kevin Na and also features Korean-born Kiwi Danny Lee.
Despite high expectations entering the 2025 season, Jang has struggled so far on the LIV tour. He had finishes of 49th, 23rd, 40th, 41st, and 29th places before finishing last in Mexico last week among those who played all three rounds. He is now in danger of losing his spot in LIV Golf after just one season. Players finishing inside the top 24 at each regular tournament earn points on a sliding scale, and these points determine individual "Zone" standings.
Players ranked from first to 24th are in the "Lock Zone," and they are guaranteed a contract offer for the following season. Those ranked 25th to 48th are in the "Open Zone." They can stay in LIV Golf, but their teams are not obliged to extend their contracts if those deals are expiring. Lee and Na are 34th and 35th, respectively, entering the South Korean tournament. Players from 49th and below, in the "Drop Zone," will be relegated out of LIV Golf. Jang is in 51st place after Mexico.
Relegated players may find their way back to LIV through the International Series on the Asian Tour, made up of 10 tournaments. The rankings leader will earn promotion to LIV Golf for the following season. LIV also holds an annual qualifying tournament called LIV Golf Promotions. Last year, only the winner earned a spot in LIV Golf for 2025, while the top-10 finishers earned full exemption on the International Series.
In addition to these two pathways, a LIV team could try to bring back a relegated player but has to make "a business case" that must be approved by the team's board of two LIV Golf executives. Jang has hit just 48.41 percent of the fairways to rank 48th in LIV Golf and is second to last with 1.73 putts per hole on average. The 22-year-old is No. 10 in average driving distance with 315.5 yards.
Iron Heads GC as a team could also use a jolt this week, as it's currently in last place in the team standings. The top eight teams and ties earn points on a sliding scale at each stop, and Iron Heads GC has collected just one point so far. Na and Lee, both born in South Korea, have said they were thrilled with their homecoming. Lee, in particular, was born and raised in Incheon before emigrating to New Zealand at the age of 8.
Since its inception in 2022, LIV Golf has lured some of the biggest names in golf with its lucrative purses and shorter playing schedule than the PGA Tour, including major champions Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia, Brooks Koepka, and Dustin Johnson. Joaquin Niemann, former top-ranked amateur from Chile with two PGA Tour titles, leads the LIV Golf standings this year with 124.66 points, on the strength of three victories in six starts. Rahm, former world No. 1, is next with 94.36 points.
This week's field will have another South Korean player in addition to Jang. DP World Tour player Kim Min-kyu will play as an injury replacement for Ben Campbell for RangeGoats GC, Kim's agency, Ungbin Management Group, said. Kim will return to the Europe-based DP World Tour after this week. Kim was the runner-up to Jang in both the Korean Tour Player of the Year standings and the money list in 2024.