Korea to host 1st PGA Tour event next year

PGA Tour’s deputy commissioner Jay Monahan, from left, Kyeong Wook-ho, chief marketing officer of CJ Group and golfer Kim Si-woo participate in the agreement ceremony of the first PGA Tour event in Korea in Seoul, Monday. The CJ Group and the PGA Tour event agreed to host the CJ Cup@Nine Bridges for the next 10 years starting 2017. / Yonhap

CJ strikes 10-year

deal to sponsor

PGA Tour

By Baek Byung-yeul

Korea’s first- PGA Tour event will be held next year, organizers announced Monday.

At a press conference in Seoul, CJ Group held an agreement ceremony with the PGA Tour and announced that the Korean conglomerate had agreed to a 10-year deal to host the CJ Cup@Nine Bridges starting with the 2017-18 PGA Tour season. Korea has previously hosted international golf events such as last year’s President Cup, but has never hosted a PGA Tour event before.

The CJ Group said the inaugural event will be held from Oct. 19 to 22 next year with a total purse of $9.25 million. The group and the PGA Tour said they are yet to decide on where the event will take place, adding that they were considering Jeju Island or the Haesley Nine Bridges Golf Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province.

PGA Tour Deputy Commissioner Jay Monahan said the event will be an extension of the sport. “This commitment not only extends the reach of the PGA Tour. It also positions Korea as an integral part in the global sporting landscape.”

CJ Group Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik said, “The first PGA Tour event in Korea will open up new opportunities for talented Korean golfers and the CJ Group will do its best to make sure that the PGA event boosts the local economy.”

The CJ Cup@Nine Bridges will feature 78 players, including the top 60 and 18 invited players. The winner will be given 500 winning FedEx Cup points and a two-year exemption from the PGA Tour.

Kyeong Wook-ho, chief marketing officer of CJ, said the group has made it a priority to nurture the talent of the country’s male golfers. “We hope to make sure we can fill the 18 slots for invited players with as many Korean golfers as possible,” he said.

South Korean conglomerate CJ sponsored an LPGA Tour event at Nine Bridges from 2002 to 2005 and was the sponsor of an Asian Tour event, the CJ Invitational, from 2011 to 2013. It also sponsors Korean players such as An Byeong-hun and Kim Si-woo.

The PGA Tour has 12 players from South Korea on its international roster this year and 20 South Koreans were members of the PGA Tour or the Web.com Tour last year.