KLPGA Thrives in the New Year of 2026, While KPGA Struggles

Contrasting Outlooks for 2026 Men's and Women's Tours in Korea
KLPGA Finalizes Schedule Early, Boasts Record-Breaking Prize Pool
KPGA Faces Uncertainty, Struggles for Survival Without Announced Tournaments

The new year of 2026 has begun with contrasting starts for the two major golf tours. The Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour smoothly kicked off its season by announcing its 2026 schedule last month, while the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) Tour is struggling to attract tournaments. KPGA is expected to release its schedule for this year after mid-January.

This season, the KLPGA Tour will be the largest ever in terms of prize money. Despite the ongoing economic downturn, the tour has maintained last year's total of 31 tournaments. The total prize money amounts to 34.7 billion won. KLPGA announced, "The average prize money per regular tour event is about 1.12 billion won, the largest ever," and added, "The total prize money has also increased by about 100 million won compared to last year’s 34.6 billion won." With some sponsors planning to increase their contributions, the total prize pool for the KLPGA Tour is expected to grow even further.

Four new tournaments will be introduced in the new season. The KLPGA regular tour opener, the Rejuran Championship, will be held in March at Amata Spring Country Club in Chonburi, Thailand. In April, the domestic season will open with The Siena Open and the tentatively named DB Women’s Championship.

All 31 tournaments scheduled for the 2026 season will offer prize money of at least 1 billion won each. This is the first time that every event on the tour will feature a prize pool of 1 billion won or more. The Celltrion Queens Masters, the BC Card·Hankyung 48th KLPGA Championship, the Hana Financial Group Championship, the 26th Hite Jinro Championship, and the tentatively named KB Financial Golden Life Championship will each have a total prize fund of 1.5 billion won.

Two tournaments have increased their prize money this year. The Nexen·Saintnine Masters has increased its prize fund by 100 million won to reach 1 billion won, while the Celltrion Queens Masters has seen a 300 million won increase from last year’s 1.2 billion won to 1.5 billion won. The BC Card·Hankyung Ladies Cup has been merged with the historic and traditional KLPGA Championship.

The KPGA Tour continues to face difficulties this year. It remains challenging to secure corporate sponsors for tournaments. Last year, the tour managed to hold only 20 events, including joint tournaments with the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO), DP World Tour, and Asian Tour. In 2025, after the KPGA Gunsan Country Club Open in June, the first half of the season ended, followed by an eight-week summer break.

The number of tournaments is not the only issue. Male players are also struggling to secure main sponsors. Due to the limited number of tournaments, they are increasingly looking overseas for opportunities, participating in events in Japan and Europe in search of new prospects. As star players move abroad, domestic interest in the men's tour is waning. To make matters worse, KPGA has recently been embroiled in workplace harassment issues.

In contrast, all three of last year's top free agents among female players have found new sponsors. Prize money leader Hong Jeongmin signed a sponsorship deal with Korea Land & Housing Corporation. Yoo Hyeonjo partnered with Lotte, while Noh Seunghee joined hands with PharmaResearch.

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