Scott Vincent. Asian Tour

The 65th Korea Open begins this week, will plenty on intriguing storylines to keep track of at Woo Jeung Hills Country Club — south of Seoul.

With two spots in the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool up for grabs, the event has attracted a strong field, with Scott Vincent making a return from his LIV Golf schedule for the 10th event of the season on the Asian Tour. The Zimbabwean has impressed once again on LIV, highlighted by a fourth-place finish in Singapore.

He is joined by brother Kieran, who claimed the International Series Vietnam in April and is one of five winners from the Asian Tour this year competing here, along with Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho (World City Championship), Miguel Tabuena (The DGC Open) from the Philippines and Australian Brendan Jones (New Zealand Open).

Tabuena, who has not finished worse than 22nd in six starts in 2023, is the leading player competing from the Asian Tour Order of Merit (OOM), sitting in second place. Kieran is the top golfer from the International Series OOM. He is in third place on that Merit list, which sees the winner at the end of the season earn passage onto the 2024 LIV Golf League — a feat achieved by his brother Scott last year.

The other Asian Tour winner from this season is Korea’s rising star Chanmin Jung, who recorded a surprise victory in the GS Caltex Maekyung Open in May.

The strapping 23 year old, nicknamed ‘Hulk’, is bidding to become only the second player to win the Maekyung event and Korea Open in the same season. His compatriot Sangmoon Bae, did the double in 2009.

Defending champion Minkyu Kim, who beat fellow Korean Mingyu Cho in a play-off last season, is back this year along with five other former winners: Junseok Lee (2021), Seunghyuk Kim (2014), Yikeun Chang (2017), Minchel Choi (2018), and veteran Jong-duck Kim (1997).