Golf great Jack Nicklaus speaks during a press conference in Seoul, Thursday. The PGA Champions Tour will be played at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in the Songdo International Business District in Incheon for three years, starting in 2010. The course was designed by the 18-time major winner and is the only course to bear his name in Korea. / Yonhap |
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
The PGA Champions Tour will come to South Korea next year.
The PGA Tour announced in a press conference in Seoul Thursday that it has reached a three-year deal to bring the tournament for 50-and-over golfers to the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in the Songdo International Business District in Incheon, 64 kilometers west of Seoul, starting in 2010.
It will be the first time that the Champions Tour will travel to Asia.
The senior event was founded in 1937 and has several high-profile players, such as Bernhard Langer of Germany, Mark O'Meara and Tom Kite of the United States and Nick Price of Zimbabwe, on its roster.
The 54-hole stroke-play event highlights a $3 million (3.7 billion won) purse along with a $450,000 winner's check.
``The Korean market is an important one to the PGA Tour and we welcome this addition to the Champions Tour schedule and the opportunity to further elevate golf in South Korea with an event of this magnitude,'' PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said.
The Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea, featuring a par-72 and 7,257-yard course, was designed by the golf great, nicknamed the ``Golden Bear'' and is the only course to bear his name in Korea. It is scheduled to open in the fall of 2010.
``Mike Stevens, president of the Champions Tour, came to us and asked for advice on where to go. They want to take the Champions Tour out of the United States to Asia,'' the 18-time major winner said on his fifth visit to Korea.
``I said 'only one place you have to go first, and that's Songdo city.'''
``The players will love it, there will be a good golf course, convenient air travel _ all the things that we look for to the Champions Tour for something to be very special. That's why we are here and that's what we're gearing ourselves to get ready for.
``And I am delighted that many, and I'm sure most of, my friends that I've played with on the Champions Tour will be here to support that.''
Meanwhile, tournament organizer IMG, said it is in negotiations with the U.S. golf body regarding inviting Korean and other Asian golfers to the event.
The details on the tournament will be decided later in accordance with the schedules of the PGA and KPGA.
ksw@koreatimes.co.kr
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