Woori Financial Group Championship to tee off Thursday

Im Sung-jae, the highest-ranked Asian golfer in the world, jetted in to Korea this week to compete against a competitive field of KPGA golfers at the Woori Financial Group Championship that tees off Thursday at Ferrum Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi.

Im Sung-jae watches his tee shot on the second hole during the third round of the Wells Fargo Championship at the Quail Hollow Club on Saturday in Charlotte, North Carolina. [AP]

Im Sung-jae, the highest-ranked Asian golfer in the world, jetted in to Korea this week to compete against a competitive field of KPGA golfers at the Woori Financial Group Championship that tees off Thursday at Ferrum Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi.

The Woori Championship started last year with Chang Hee-min claiming the 260-million-won ($200,000) prize money as inaugural champion.

Defending champion Chang is competing again this year for an increased 300 million won in a 144-strong field, including two-time PGA Tour champion Im — winner of the Honda Classic in 2020 and the Shriners Children's Open in 2021.

Im, ranked at No. 18 on the official world golf ranking, competes on the PGA Tour and joins the field in solid form, having tied for eighth at the Wells Fargo Championship on Sunday.

The Wells Fargo marked the seventh time Im managed a top-10 finish this season. His best finish so far was tied for fourth at the Famers Insurance Open in January.

Im holds on to the No. 18 spot on the official world ranking, but that spot as the top Asian is likely to be challenged in the next few weeks as Tom Kim, also known as Kim Joo-hyung, sits one spot back in No. 19. Unlike Im, Kim will remain in the United States this week as he competes in the PGA Tour's AT&T Byron Nelson.

The 25-year-old planned to take part in the Woori Championship last year, even flying back to Korea at attending the pre-tournament events, but missed the actual contest after contracting Covid-19 just days before he was due to tee off.

“It was such a shame that I had to come back because I could not compete in the tournament due to Covid-19,” Im told Korean reporters after the Masters Tournament last month. “I want to maintain good fitness and show a good performance in front of Korean fans.”

The last KPGA event in which Im competed was the Genesis Championship in October, 2019. Im won that event, earning his sole KPGA trophy.

Starting at the Woori Championship, Im will be adding a new patch to the bill of his cap to promote the city of Busan's bid to host the 2030 World Expo, carrying the Woori Financial Group logo alongside the words "Busan World Expo 2030." The patch will be added to his regular CJ cap and will be worn at tournaments overseas for the next few months.

Seven golfers sponsored by Woori Financial Group are also joining the field — Cho Woo-young, Hwang Jung-gon, Lee Soo-min, Junseok Lee of Australia, Cho Min-kyu, Yun Sung-ho and Park Jun-hong.

Cho Woo-young is headed to Ferrum Club in good form, having become the first amateur golfer in a decade to win a KPGA event at the Golfzon Open in Jeju on April 23.

Cho Woo-young hits a shot during the Golfzon Open in Jeju at Golfzon County Ora in Jeju on April 23. [YONHAP]

Hwang Jung-gon, on the other hand, is looking to manage his first top-10 finish of the season at the Woori Championship as his best finish so far was tied for 15th at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship on Sunday.

The same goes for Lee Soo-min, whose best finish this season was also tied for 15th at the Golfzon Open in Jeju, where Cho Yoo-young lifted the trophy.

Junseok Lee, who has two KPGA wins to his name, will look to redeem himself from the previous four tournaments this season. He failed to make the cut at two of the events and managed to tie for 60th at the Maekyung Championship.

Meanwhile, Cho Min-gyu, who made his pro debut in 2008, is looking for his first KPGA title alongside Yun and Park.

This season’s KPGA champions like Koh Gun-taek and Jung Chan-min are also competing for their second trophy of the season.

Koh won the DB Insurance Promy Open on April 16, before Jung won his first ever KPGA title on Sunday at the Maekyung Championship — a tournament considered a major, although not officially designated as such, in the KPGA — in style, surpassing the runner-up by a huge margin of six strokes with a wire-to-wire victory.

The Woori Championship also serves as an opportunity to see three of the four golfers that will represent Korea at the Hangzhou Asian Games in September — Im, Cho Woo-young and Jang Yu-bin — playing at the same time. Kim Si-woo, who also competes on the PGA Tour, is the one missing member of the squad.

Park Sang-hyun, who tied for third at the DP World Tour’s Korea Championship Presented by Genesis on April 30 — the best finish by a Korean golfer among 156 golfers from Europe and Asia — also joins the field as he looks to win his first title of the season.

Park Sang-hyun hits a shot during the DB Insurance Promy Open at La Vie est Belle Country Club in Chuncheon, Gangwon on April 16. [NEWS1]

Park narrowly missed a title at the Promy Open last month after falling two strokes behind Koh.

Another notable golfer in the field is eight-time KPGA winner Kim Bio, who arrives in Yeoju after failing to defend his title at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship last week.

Alongside Kim Bio, veteran golfer Kim Kyung-tae also joins the field. Kim Kyung-tae is a hugely experienced contender with more than 20 wins to his name, including six on the KPGA and two on the Asian Tour, where he spends the majority of his time.

Reasonably good weather is forecast throughout the weekend, so the course at Ferrum ought to remain playable without any disruptions. The stable conditions will likely come as a big relief to the KPGA golfers, who had to compete with one round canceled at last week's GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship.

All four rounds of this year's Woori Financial Group Championship will be broadcast on SBS Golf 2 in Korea.

Ahn Jin-pyo paired with Kim Eun-in and Moon Dong-hyun will be the first to tee off on the first hole at 6:50 a.m., the same time Sukwoan Ko of Canada starts with Park Sung-joon and Kim Hak-hyung on the 10th hole.

Reigning champion Chang will then tee off on the first hole at 12:46 p.m. alongside Hwang and Seo Yo-seop, followed by Im on the same hole with Park Sang-hyun and Jung at 12:57 p.m.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]