This year, all tournaments of the Korea Professional Golf Association (KPGA) Champions Tour, in which only players aged 50 or older, will be aired on TV.
KPGA announced on the 5th, “This year, all KPGA Champions Tour tournaments, including the KPGA Senior Championship, which will be broadcast live, will be broadcasted.” The KPGA Champions Tour, which aired 4 tournaments in 2020, has increased the number to 6 in 2021 and 7 last year, and confirmed broadcasting of all games for the first time this year. A KPGA official said, “The fact that last year’s Champions Tour had the second highest viewership rating after the Korean Tour (part 1) among KPGA-sponsored tournaments also helped organize this broadcast.” 토토사이트
The KPGA Champions Tour is growing in size every year. The total prize money of 11 competitions in 2020 was 950 million won, but it has grown to 1.15 billion won in 13 competitions in 2021 and 1.4 billion won in 13 competitions last year. This year, with a bigger body than last year, the schedule announcement is just around the corner. As of last year, the size of the KPGA Champions Tour is similar to that of the Japanese Senior Tour, which was held in 14 tournaments with a prize money of 140 million yen. In addition, it is much larger than the Korean Women’s Professional Golf (KLPGA) Champions Tour, which opened with a total prize money of 350 million won in five tournaments.
In the case of the KPGA Senior Championship, which has been confirmed to be broadcast live, it is being held with the largest prize money in the Champions Tour (150 million won for seniors and 40 million won for grand seniors). In addition, it is the only one in the senior tour to be held as a 3-round, 54-hole walk play.
The KPGA Champions Tour was launched in 1997. The event is divided into a senior division for those aged 50 or older and a grand senior division for those aged 60 or older. In this season’s KPGA Champions Tour, Choi Sang-ho (68), Choi Kwang-soo (63), Cho Cheol-sang (65), Park Nam-shin (64), Kim Jong-deok (62, Milan International), Shin Yong-jin (59), Kang Uk-soon (57), Seok Jong-yul ( 54), Park No-seok (56), Park Do-gyu (53), Mo Jung-gyeong (52), and other ‘stars of the past’ will be active.
Heo Seok-ho (50) and Jang Ik-je (50) also obtained qualifications to perform on the domestic senior stage. A KPGA official said, “It is reminiscent of the ‘War of the Stars’ as the players who made their name as star players during the time when Korean men’s golf enjoyed the greatest popularity gathered in the KPGA Champions Tour.” Choi Gyeong-ju (53, SK Telecom) and Yang Yong-eun (51), who are showing good performances on the PGA Champions Tour, also hold KPGA Champions Tour seeds.
A KPGA official said, “In fact, the title sponsor advertising effect of the KPGA Champions Tour was found to be the highest compared to other tour tournaments. was selected,” he explained.