It’s the final regular event of the DP World Tour season this week as we head to South Korea for the Genesis Championship and a return to Woo Jeong Hills Country Club, a course used regularly for the Korea Open on the local circuit over the years as well as for this event 12 months ago.
A field of 126 featuring a mix of DP World Tour players alongside the best that the Korean Tour can offer will tee it up this week, and with cards on the line and top-70 Race to Dubai positions to fight for, this should be an exciting week before we head to Abu Dhabi for the Playoffs in a fortnight’s time.
A relatively short field and 30 or so locals who predominantly appear towards the bottom of the betting means for a relatively tight betting heat, with Siwoo Kim the marginal favourite from Race to Dubai leader Eugenio Chacarra at around 7/1 and 8/1 respectively. Sungjae Im is a point or two longer in places, with the likes of Jacob Skov Olesen, Daniel Hillier, Ryan Fox and Thomas Detry all in the 16/1 to 18/1 bracket.
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Course Overview. Measuring 7,367 yards for its Par of 71, Woo Jeong Hills Country Club presents a very different test to last week’s venue. Set in the rolling countryside of Cheonan around 50 miles south of Seoul, elevation changes are a defining feature, with several tee shots played from raised positions to narrow, sloping fairways framed by mature woodland.
Water hazards come into play on a number of holes, most notably around the par-3 17th and the closing stretch, where accuracy is paramount to avoid a late stumble. Bentgrass is used throughout from tee to green, providing a smooth and consistent playing surface, while the putting surfaces themselves are subtly contoured and can become slick if the wind picks up across the valleys.
Woo Jeong Hills has been a regular host on the Korean Tour over the years, staging the Korea Open as far back as John Daly’s win in 2003. It’s a venue that has rewarded patience as much as flair – winning scores here have ranged from -2 to -16, depending on the setup and weather conditions. 3 Par-5s measuring 543, 567 and 570 yards offer scoring opportunities, as do a pair of sub-360 yard Par-4s, however the rest of the course is tough with the Par-3s offering stern resistance.
Course Winners: (Korea Open):2026, Jiho Yang (-9) (Genesis Championship): 2025, Junghwan Lee (-11), 350/1; (Korea Open): 2024, Minkyu Kim (-11); 2023, Seungsu Han (-6); 2022, Minkyu Kim (-4); 2021, Junseok Lee (-8); 2019, Jazz Janewattananond (-6); 2018, Minchel Choi (-12); 2017: Yikeun Chang (-7); 2016, K.H. Lee (-16); 2015, K.H. Lee (-13); 2014, Seunghyuk Kim (-2); 2013, Sung Kang (-4); 2012, Daesub Kim (-5); 2011, Rickie Fowler (-16).
Tournament Stats. We’ve published some key player statistics for this week’s Genesis Championship which might help point us in the right direction.
As noted above, course stats relate to various events held here on the Asian/Korean Tours since 2004 as well as last year’s Genesis Championship: Current Form | First Round Leader Stats | Course Stats | Combined Stats.
Predictor Model. Our published Predictor Model is available here. As always you can build your own model using the variables available.
Weather Forecast. The latest weather forecast for the area is here.
Rain over the weekend has given way to more pleasant conditions with sunny spells and light winds expected for the first 3 days of tournament play before the potential for rain returns on Sunday. Temperatures will peak in the high 60s Fahrenheit.
Tournament Trends & Key Factors. Stats are extremely patchy for the Korea Open events held here, with only a selection of players furnished with numbers in the events where anything was captured at all. In terms of recent winners, including last year’s Genesis Championship, only the following was captured:
- 2026, Jiho Yang (-9). 272 yards (46th), 42.9% fairways (36th), 68.1% greens in regulation (27th), 30.4% scrambling (34th), 1.63 putts per GIR (1st)
- 2025, Junghwan Lee (-11). 292 yards (22nd), 58.9% fairways (28th), 69.4% greens in regulation (25th), 59.1% scrambling (27th), 1.64 putts per GIR (3rd)
- 2024, Minkyu Kim (-11). 279 yards (21st), 53.6% fairways (6th), 75% greens in regulation (1st), 55.6% scrambling (13th), 1.63 putts per GIR (1st)
- 2019, Jazz Janewattananond (-6). 295 yards (13th), 40.5% fairways (27th), 70.4% greens in regulation (5th), 75% scrambling (1st), 1.74 putts per GIR (7th)
It could be dangerous to put too much faith in very limited data, however of the stats that are available I’d err towards the side of putting being a key metric given the evidence above.
Current Form Of Winners: Going back to 2011 and looking at the recent form of our winners on this course, in the main the eventual champion was either rounding into form or had shown some solid signs in the recent past – indeed each of our winners had a top-20 finish in their last 3 outings with the exception of Rickie Fowler.
Even Rickie though had shown signs of life following his 2nd place finish at Akron, sitting inside the top 6 at the halfway point of the Deutsche Bank Championship and 8th after day 1 at the BMW Championship on his last start.
Last year’s Genesis Championship winner Junghwan Lee had also enjoyed a slight improvement in form in the lead up to the event, finishing 7th at the KJ Choi Invitational, 19th at the Jakarta Invitational, and 30th the previous week at the Charity Classic on South Korean soil:
- 2026, Jiho Yang: MC/WD/MC/35/MC/44/MC/59/39/MC/17/34
- 2025, Junghwan Lee: MC/56/24/2/MC/30/46/34/WD/7/19/30
- 2024, Minkyu Kim: 22/MC/34/10/19/12/MC/23/MC/3/18/43
- 2023, Seungsu Han: 2/16/37/32/19/MC/MC/3/32/58/58/12
- 2022, Minkyu Kim: 25/57/2/10/5/43/2/5/9/3/38/23
- 2021, Junseok Lee: 16/25/61/34/15/16
- 2019, Jazz Janewattananond: 13/4/3/MC/5/MC/4/19/14/25/5/3
- 2018, Minchel Choi: 12/27/2/2/2/MC/17/20/MC/MC/MC/17/59
- 2017: Yikeun Chang: 22/32/MC/30/MC/26/MC/MC/32/2/24/51
- 2016, K.H. Lee: MC/61/MC/MC/MC/21/45/MC/15/29/MC/4
- 2015, K.H. Lee: 35/MC/65/MC/59/21/12/MC/MC/18/MC/2
- 2014, Seunghyuk Kim: 25/38/18/39/12/13/11/MC/51/1/2/25
- 2013, Sung Kang: 28/MC/20/MC/28/71/MC/MC/MC/MC/6/1
- 2012, Daesub Kim: MC/66/MC/MC/31/32/16
- 2011, Rickie Fowler: 16/22/MC/13/5/22/2/51/52/52/48
Course Form Of Winners: In general, winners had shown some form around here prior to victory. It’s not universal, although even 2023 winner Seungsu Han had been first round leader the year before his win in 2023 despite an underwhelming overall record, and last year’s 350/1 winner of this event Junghwan Lee had finished 4th here 2 years prior:
- 2026, Jiho Yang: MC/20/MC/39/40/WD
- 2025, Junghwan Lee: MC/55/MC/MC/36/MC/MC/24/11/4/13
- 2024, Minkyu Kim: MC/MC/MC/46/1/4
- 2023, Seungsu Han: MC/20/MC/42
- 2022, Minkyu Kim: MC/MC/MC/46
- 2021, Junseok Lee: 7/MC/MC/26/32/MC
- 2019, Jazz Janewattananond: 32
- 2018, Minchel Choi: 6
- 2017: Yikeun Chang: 14/MC/22
- 2016, K.H. Lee: 43/6/1
- 2015, K.H. Lee: 43/6
- 2014, Seunghyuk Kim:40/45/MC/9/20/16
- 2013, Sung Kang: MC/16/MC/61/9/11
- 2012, Daesub Kim: 6/44/MC/15/5/2/26
- 2011, Rickie Fowler: Debut.
Northern European conditions should feel comfortable for many of the DP World Tour regulars, and the extra yardage compared to last week might have a select few licking their lips at the prospect of using driver a little more freely this week.