KPGA season to close with battle of the best at LG Championship

A total of 61 golfers are joining the field for the no-cut event, which carries a grand prize of 260 million won ($198,000), as coveted titles hang on the line.

Jung Chan-min hits a shot during the Golfzon-Toray Open at Sunsan Country Club in Gumi, North Gyeongsang on Sunday. [NEWS1]

Multiple KPGA title winners this season, including last weekend's champion Jung Chan-min, will gather at Seowon Valley Country Club in Paju, Gyeonggi on Thursday for the LG Signature Players Championship to vie for the last tournament trophy of the 2023 season.

A total of 61 golfers are joining the field for the no-cut event, which carries a grand prize of 260 million won ($198,000), as coveted titles hang on the line.

The LG Championship will decide which golfers take the KPGA's two big individual titles — Genesis Point Award and Money List — this season.

The Genesis Point Award is the award given to the golfer with the most amount of Genesis points. The higher finish a golfer manages in a KPGA event, the more points he earns.

The Money List is the title conferred to a golfer who has accumulated the most amount of prize money from KPGA events of the season.

The winner of the LG Championship will earn 1,000 Genesis points, making it technically possible for anyone in the top five to earn the big title. That means current No. 4 Kang Kyung-nam, with 4,719, or No. 5 Koh Gun-taek, with, 4,788, could surpass current No. 1 Ham Jung-woo, with 5,662.

All three are competing in the tournament alongside No. 2 Lee Jung-hwan, with 5,164, and No. 3 Park Sang-hyun, with 4,896.

Park could also win the Money List as he is leading with 761 million and 37,030 won ($580,500). Seungsu Han of the United States is right below him with 738 million and 971,110 won ($563,240).

The LG Championship will mark the end of the eight-month 2023 KPGA season, which has seen a total of 18 winners in 22 events.

Only two golfers have won multiple titles this season. Jung has two, winning the Golfzon-Toray Open on Sunday and the GS Caltex Maekyung Open in May, and Koh has three, earning his at the DB Insurance Promy Open in April, the Honors K Sollago CC Han Jangsang Invitational in July and the Shinhan Donghae Open in September.

Both golfers will be on the green this weekend to end their seasons in style.

This season has been by far the most successful season for both golfers, as they secured their first-ever KPGA titles and added more.

Competition at the LG Championship is set to be fierce, with other winners this season like Baek Seuk-hyun and Kim Chan-woo also in the pool.

Defending champion Kim Young-soo is not competing in this year’s tournament, but 2020 winner Han will look to claim his second title of the season after the Kolon Korea Open in June.

With a win, Han would be the first-ever golfer to win the LG Championship twice. The tournament made its debut in 2020.

The trio of Kwon Sung-yeol, Choi Min-chel and Baek Seuk-hyun will be the first to tee off on the first hole at 10:20 a.m. on Thursday. At the same time, Kim Hong-taek, Park Sung-joon and Lee Soo-min will start on the 10th.

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