Обсуждение участника:17-year-old Korean-British golf prospect Chris Kim makes PGA Tour debut

Son Ji-Hyeon Seo, a professional player who played in Korea, the U.S. and Japan, will participate as an invited player in 'The CJ Cup', which opens tomorrow. England, the home country of golf, attracts attention as a next-generation star.

A total of 156 players will participate in the PGA Tour's The CJ Cup Byron Nelson, which will be held at TPC Craig Ranch (par 71) in McKinney, Texas, starting on the 2nd. Among the prominent professionals, there is an amateur player who receives a lot of attention from the British media. The protagonist is Chris Kim (17), a promising Korean golfer. CJ, the main sponsor of The CJ Cup Byron Nelson, recognized his growth potential early on and signed a sponsorship contract and invited him to this tournament.

Chris Kim, a high school student, emerged as a next-generation star in England, the home of golf, by winning the R&A Boys Amateur Championship, the most prestigious junior golf tournament in England, as well as the McGregor Trophy and European Amateur Championship last year. Last September, he was selected as the best player on the European team at the Junior Ryder Cup (a golf competition between the United States and Europe) with 3 wins and 1 draw.

Chris Kim's mother is Seo Ji-hyun (49), who played professional golf in Korea, Japan, and the United States. Seo, who tied for 15th in the 1998 Giant Eagle Classic on the American Women's Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour, went on a tour of Japan, met her husband there, and moved to England. Mr. Seo, who worked as a teaching professional at a golf club near London, taught Chris Kim to play golf since he was eight years old.

In an interview with the BBC, Chris Kim said, "I'm learning everything from my coach, how to manage my nerves, how to focus on every shot, how to forget about a bad shot, and how to play simply." Taking his first steps on the PGA Tour, he said, “First of all, my goal is to pass the cut. “I am one of the (156) participating players, and the opportunity to win is open to anyone,” he expressed his determination.

This tournament, with a total prize money of $9.5 million (approximately KRW 13.1 billion) and a championship prize of $1.71 million (approximately KRW 2.36 billion), includes Seongjae Lim, who won his second consecutive championship at the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) Tour Woori Finance Championship last week. Byeong-Hoon Ahn, Si-Woo Kim, Joo-Hyung Kim, Gyeong-Hoon Lee, Seong-Hyun Kim, and Seong-Hoon Kang will participate. Kyung-Hoon Lee showed a strong performance by winning back-to-back championships in 2021 and 2022, when the competition was held under the name AT&T Byron Nelson.

CJ Group, which exclusively hosted The CJ Cup until last year, stepped forward as a sponsor of this tournament as the PGA Tour returned from a two-year season system to a single-year system starting this year. CJ will serve as title sponsor for 10 years from this year to 2033. The Byron Nelson Tournament, which started in 1944, continues the tradition of The CJ Cup and, starting this year, awards a trophy with the winner's name engraved in Korean. 스포츠토토맨