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Current season, competition or edition: 2024 Korean Tour | |
| Formerly | SBS Korean Tour |
|---|---|
| Sport | Golf |
| Founded | 1978 |
| First season | 1978 |
| Countries | Based in South Korea[a] |
| Most titles | Order of Merit titles: Choi Sang-ho (9)Tournament wins:  Choi Sang-ho (43) |
| Official website | www |
The Korean Tour is a men's professional golf tour run by the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) of South Korea. In 2011, it had total prize money of about US$14 million.
Professional golf in Korea dates back to the mid 20th century. The Korean Professional Golf Championship and the Korean Open were launched in 1958 and the KPGA was founded in 1963. Various other tournaments were created over the following decades.
The KPGA's tours serve as feeders for richer tours around the world. Substantial numbers of Korean golfers have played on the Asian Tour and the Japan Golf Tour, and a few have made it onto the PGA Tour or the European Tour. Notable examples include Yang Yong-eun, who was the first Korean to win a men's major golf championship, and K. J. Choi, the first Korean-born PGA Tour winner whose most notable win was the 2011 Players Championship.
In June 2004, the tour signed a title sponsorship agreement with Seoul Broadcasting System, being renamed as the SBS Korean Tour. The agreement was reported to be worth ₩15,000,000,000 over five years.[1]
In December 2022, it was announced by the European Tour that the KPGA had extended their partnership with them and the PGA Tour. As part of the expansion, the leading player on the Korean Tour Order of Merit was given status onto the European Tour for the following season.[2]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ "국내골프도 내년부터 '투어시대'" [Domestic golf will also enter the 'tour era' starting next year]. The Dong-a Ilbo (in Korean). Seoul, South Korea. 24 June 2004. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
- ^ "DP World Tour, PGA Tour announce expansion of relationship with Korea Professional Golfers' Association". European Tour. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.