Big-Money Matches for Stars on Green

To professional golfers, money and world rankings are extremely important because these two standards determine whether or not they can participate in big-money matches.

Starting on October 14 (Korean Time), two major matches for only “selected golfers” will take place in Wentworth, Great Britain and at the Bighorn Golf Club, United States, for four days.

The HSBC World Match Play Championship Has a Total of £2.44 Million in Prize Money-

Players will be competing for a £1 million first prize (2.05 billion won), which is the largest of any professional golf tournament. Since it consists of one-on-one match play, there are only 16 players participating in this championship. Therefore, even if you are eliminated in the first round, you will still receive £60,000 (123 million won). Along with the world’s number one ranked player, Vijay Singh, and the world’s number two ranked player, Ernie Els, Korean golfer K.J. Choi was invited as well.

Choi will play a first round match against Angel Cabrera of Argentina, whose accurate putts and long driving distance make him a strong contender as of 4:32 p.m. on October 14. Ranked number 10 on the European Tour’s money leader board, Cabrera is ranked 30th in the world, whereas Choi is 28th. The most exciting element of match play is that there can be many unexpected upsets. From the first round to the final round, all matches will be played as one-on-one 36-hole match play, making it difficult to guess who will win.

The Samsung World Championship is an $825,000 event and one of the most exclusive on the LPGA Tour, with only the top 20 golfers participating. The prize money for the winner is $206,250 (240 million won). Eight Korean female golfers, including Pak Se-ri and 14-year-old teenage sensation Michelle Wie, have received invitations.

Because the world’s top golf players, including Annika Sorenstam, are in the tournament, it will be interesting to watch whether Koreans will be able to break their jinx of 15 second-place finishes this year.

Young-Sik Ahn ysahn@donga.com