The DP World Tour moves from Spain to Korea for the final event before the DP World Tour Playoffs start in two weeks’ time and our man has the lowdown ahead of Thursday’s start here…
- Playoff qualification up for grabs
- GIR likely to be the key stat
Tournament History
This a new event on the DP World Tour, created by the merger of two previous tournaments — the Genesis Championship on the Korean Tour and the once only staged Korea Championship on the DP World Tour, which was won by Pablo Larrazabal at the end of April last year.
Both tournaments were staged at this week’s venue — the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea.
The event is co-sanctioned between the Korean tour and the DP World Tour with the field comprising of 90 DP World Tour players and 30 KPGA Tour players, and it’s a vital tournament for those plying their trade on the DP World Tour.
As the last counting event of the regular season, the top 114 players on the Race to Dubai Rankings at the conclusion of the tournament will earn their DP World Tour cards for 2025, while the top 70 will qualify for the DP World Tour Play-Offs.
The DP World Tour playoffs consist of just two events — the Abu Dhabi Championship in a fortnight’s time and the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai the following week.
Venue
Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea, Incheon, South Korea
Course Details
Par 72, 7470 yards
The Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea is described as a unique urban golf course that offers views of modern high-rise buildings along with the peaceful natural scenery of the west coast.
It’s made up of two bentgrass nine-hole loops called the Urban and the Links although the two names merely confuse as it’s not very linksy.
It opened in 2010 and it was used for the Songdo Championship on the Champions Tour in both 2010 and 2011 before hosting the Presidents Cup in 2015.
It was also the venue for the International Crown event on the LPGA Tour in 2018 and it’s hosted all seven editions of the previous incarnation of the Genesis Championship on the Korean Tour, as well as the once only staged Korea Championship on the DP World Tour last year.
Water is a constant theme and how tough it plays is very much dependant on the weather conditions.
As an indication as to how the wind can affect this coastal course, the winning scores in the seven editions of Genesis Championship ranged between -6 and -18.
Pablo Larrazabal won the Korea Championship in 12-under but given PGA Tour star, Sungjae Im won the Genesis Championship here in 2019 in just six-under-par, it must play tough when the wind blows.
For more on the course, see the two clips below. The first one features Jack Nicklaus talking about the design of the course prior to the Presidents Cup and the second is a hole-by-hole tour.
What Will It Take To Win The Genesis Championship?
We don’t have any stats to look back at from any of the seven editions of the previous manifestation of the Genesis Championship, but we do have stats from the Korea Championship last year.
Here’s the top-six with the traditional stats and the Strokes Gained stats.
Pablo Larrazabal -12 DD-38 DA-20 GIR-5 SC-12 PA 15
Marcus Helligkilde -10 DD-1 DA-28 GIR-1 SC-30 PA 30
Jorge Campillo -9 DD-12 DA- 5 GIR-15 SC-2 PA 25
Scott Jamieson -9 DD-22 DA-41 GIR-35 SC-1 PA 26
Joost Luiten -9 DD-30 DA-9 GIR-13 SC-32 PA 16
Sanghyun Park -9 No Stats
DD — Driving Distance
DA — Driving Accuracy
GIR — Greens In Regulation
SC — Scrambling
PA — Putting Average
Pablo Larrazabal -12 SGT-28 SGA-6 SGATG-2 SGT2G-2 SGP -55
Marcus Helligkilde -10 SGT-7 SGA-1 SGATG-21 SGT2G -1 SGP -68
Jorge Campillo -9 SGT-5 SGA-13 SGATG-54 SGT2G -6 SGP -22
Scott Jamieson -9 SGT-24 SGA-63 SGATG-3 SGT2G -18 SGP -9
Joost Luiten -9 SGT-1 SGA-18 SGATG-10 SGT2G -3 SGP -59
Sanghyun Park -9 No Stats
SGT — Strokes Gained Off the Tee
SGA — Strokes Gained On Approach
SGATG — Strokes Gained Around the Green
SGT2G — Strokes Gained Tee to Green
SGP — Strokes Gained Putting
We can’t give one event’s stats too much credence but accurate iron play appeared to be key with the first and second ranking fifth and first for Greens In Regulation and second and first for SG: Tee to Green and it doesn’t look like a venue at which you need to putt brilliantly.
Home Contingent Unlikely To Contend
Sanghyun Park was the only Korean to finish inside the top-nine places in the Korea Championship here last year and nerves may have got to hm on the last day given he sat tied for second with a round to go, just one behind the leader, Robert MacIntyre, who finished tied for 10th.
And it was a similar story when the DP World Tour visited Japan the week before for another co-sanctioned event — the ISPS Handa Championship
Despite make up a fairly large percentage of the field, and despite having a reasonable bank of course form, the home contingency largely struggled and the experienced 42-year-old, Hiroshi Iwata, was the only player from Japan to finish inside the top-11 places. And he shot 65 from off the pace to climb into the places.
Takumi Kanaya and course winner, Rikuya Hoshino, both sat tied for fourth and just two off the lead with a round to go but both fell away on Sunday with so much on the line.
Earning a spot on the DP World Tour is a big deal and the pressure very often takes it’s toll.
Will Any Of The Bubble Boys Make A Move?
There are DP World Tour players in the field this week that are desperate for a good finish to either secure their playing privileges for next season or to earn a spot in the playoffs.
Those outside the top 110 will need to raise their game to keep their cards and that creates an awful lot of pressure, but they’ll also feel they have nothing to lose, and that’s even more the case for those that have their playing rights wrapped up but that are eying a spot in Abu Dhabi in two weeks.
It would be no surprise at all to see one or two players that sit around the 110-mark contending and it’s even more likely that we see players just outside the top 70 finding something extra.
In-Play Tactics
Kim Seung-hyuk was eight clear with a round to play when winning the inaugural edition of the previous incarnation of the Genesis Championship here in 2017 and Kim Tae-hoon had been four in front before winning by two in 2020 but the other five winners all came from off the pace and three of them were outside the top-four places with a round to go.
The 2018 winner, Lee Tae-hee, trailed by five before a 67 in round four saw him win by two, Jaekyung Lee (2021) and Kim Young-so (2022), trailed by four and three strokes respectively, and Sungjae Im trailed by seven through 54 holes in 2019, before going on to win by two. Although he lost a two-shot 54-hole lead in the final renewal last year having led after rounds one and two too.
Larrazabal was always inside the top five and he sat second and one back with a round to go.
Looking at the hole averages, the hardest five holes on the course at last year’s Korea Championship were encountered in a six hole stretch between holes six and 11.
