KLPGA "Smooth Progress Without Spectators"... KPGA Faces "Delayed Opening"

Successful Hosting Excitement of KLPGA Championship, Men Recently Face Internal Association Personnel Issues

Kim Sang-yeol, KLPGA Chairman (left), and Koo Ja-chul, KPGA Chairman.

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] The contrasting situations of the domestic men's and women's tours.

While the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour overcame the COVID-19 pandemic period with 'no-audience matches,' the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) Korean Tour is set to resume belatedly in early July. The KLPGA Tour marked a new beginning with the 2020 season's first major, the KLPGA Championship, which concluded on the 17th at Lakewood Golf Club in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province. It was virtually the first regular tour held worldwide since the 'COVID-19' outbreak.

Second-year player Park Hyun-kyung (20, Korea Land & Trust) made history by achieving her first career victory. The tournament was conducted in a way that awarded prize money to all 150 participants to support players facing financial difficulties. World stars such as Park Sung-hyun (27), ranked third globally, Kim Se-young (27, Mirae Asset), Kim Hyo-joo (25, Lotte), 'LPGA Rookie of the Year' Lee Jeong-eun 6 (24, Daebang Construction), and 'JLPGA Tour 21-time champion' Lee Bo-mi (32) joined, enhancing the tournament's prestige.

The KLPGA Championship recorded a peak real-time viewership rating of 1.61%. The final day's rating also surged to 0.93%. It received praise for "creating a successful event through thorough quarantine measures such as installing UV sterilizers and thermal imaging cameras." The KLPGA Tour plans to hold the E1 Charity Open, Lotte Cantata Women's Open, S-Oil Championship, Korean Women's Open, and Hankyung Ladies Cup as scheduled in May and June. The 2020 season will consist of 24 events.

However, the Korean Tour faced a challenging first step. The Busan Gyeongnam Open, held over four days starting July 2 at Aramir Golf Club in Changwon, Gyeongnam Province, will be the season's first tournament. This is seven weeks later compared to the KLPGA Tour. Several major tournaments, including the season opener DB Insurance Promy Open in April, SK Telecom Open, KB Financial Live Championship, Hana Bank Invitational, and Korean Open, were canceled, causing setbacks.

'Tank' Choi Kyung-ju (50, SK Telecom), who accepted the vice-chairman position upon KPGA Chairman Koo Ja-chul's request in January, resigned after four months. Recently, amid emergency management involving a 10% salary cut for all employees, the hiring of two new staff members sparked controversy. Following the Busan Gyeongnam Open, the Korean Tour plans a total of 11 tournaments, including the Gunsan CC Open, KPGA Open, KPGA Championship, Maeil Business Newspaper Open, Shinhan Donghae Open, and Genesis Championship.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.