SEOUL, Three South Korean players, including the reigning Player of the Year on the domestic tour, have all fallen short in the PGA Tour's qualifying tournament.
Ham Jeong-woo, the 2023 KPGA Korean Tour Player of the Year, finished tied for 45th at the PGA Tour Q-School, which wrapped up at Sawgress Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, on Monday (local time).
Only the top five players and ties earned full PGA Tour membership for the upcoming season.
This photo provided by the KPGA Korean Tour on Dec. 15, 2023, shows South Korean golfer Ham Jeong-woo.
Ham finished at two-over 280, after carding a two-over 72 in the final round, which had been postponed by a day due to rain. Ham had two birdies and two bogeys through 17 holes before stumbling to the finish line with a double bogey at the 18th.
Ham, however, earned a conditional status for the second-tier Korn Ferry Tour for 2024 that will allow him to get into eight tournaments.
Ham had earlier failed to make it to the LIV Golf, a Saudi Arabia-backed breakaway tour, but the 29-year-old has membership on the DP World Tour, formerly the European Tour.
Two former PGA Tour winners from South Korea, Noh Seung-yul and Kang Sung-hoon, withdrew from the Q-School after the third round. Noh, 32, won the 2014 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, while the 36-year-old Kang won the ATandT Byron Nelson in 2019.
Source: Yonhap News Agency