– The Armada hasn’t done too badly in South Korea. It’s not one of the most common destinations, but the balance is more than decent. A Challenge Tour tournament has never been played there, and the DP World Tour has been there eight times. The Genesis Championship starting this Thursday will be the ninth. Well, in such a short time, Pablo Larrazábal already had the opportunity in 2023 to give one of his traditional scares. Specifically, the penultimate one. For now… His eighth victory on the European Tour was in Korea.
– There are only two players from continental Europe who have won a DP World Tour tournament in Korea. One is the aforementioned Pablo, and the other is Bernd Wiesberger, who is playing this week to maintain his playing rights for next year. Right now, he’s within the top 115, but he could fall out. He’s on the edge. He needs to at least make the cut.
– Before Pablo, we already had another Spanish victory in Korea, although the tournament didn’t belong to the European Tour. The responsible party was another usual suspect when it comes to Spanish champions. It was Sergio García. In 2002, he won the Kolon Cup Korea Open. Interestingly, the man from Castellón won the Korean national open the last time it wasn’t played on the course hosting this week’s Genesis Championship. From 2003 to 2025, it has been the venue for the Korean Open.
– Additionally, Miguel Ángel Jiménez has a second place and two top 5s, and Gonzalo Fernández Castaño and Jorge Campillo add two valuable top 3s.
– Rafa Cabrera Bello is going to become this week the European player who has played the most times in Korea in a DP World Tour tournament. Of the eight visits the tour has made, the Canary Island golfer has been there six times. This week will be his seventh out of nine. Ahead of him are only two players: the Korean Kyungnam Kang, who will play for the ninth time, each and every tournament, and the other is the Paraguayan Fabrizio Zanotti, who will play for the eighth time this week. Interestingly, Zanotti, like Wiesberger, also needs a good result to keep his card.
– The eight times a DP World Tour tournament has been played in Korea have produced a different winner. The only ones who can repeat are Larrazábal, Wiesberger, and Byeong Hun An, the defending champion from last year.
