4 More Koreans to Enter PGA through Last-Ever Q-School

Bumper Crop: Korean men follow in the footsteps of Korean women in swelling the ranks of the top pro golf tour.

Four Korean men have qualified for the PGA Tour with outstanding performances in the final year of Q-school, raising to 12 the total number of men of Korean descent on the tour.

Lee Dong-hwan, 25, finished first after six rounds in the PGA qualifying tournament at La Quinta Tuesday with a 25-under 207, edging out by one stroke co-runners up Ross Fisher of England and Steve LeBrun of the US. That makes Lee the first Asian player to monopolize first place in Q-school. Lee was a proven winner even before Q-school, having won two titles on the Japan Tour.

Finishing fourth at 23-under was Korean American Richard Lee, followed by Korean Park Jin who finished one stroke behind.

The fourth Korean to qualify through Q-school is high-school student Kim Si-woo who, at 17 years, 5 months and 6 days, became the youngest man ever to qualify for the PGA. Kim had already qualified for the Korean Professional Golf Association (KPGA) tour. But the PGA doesn’t let anyone play on the tour until he’s 18, meaning Kim will have to wait until June before he can try to rack up the standing points needed to qualify to play in the tour’s bigger tournaments.

The four new PGA tour members will join Choi Kyung-ju — better known as K.J. Choi — who in 1990 became the first Korean to qualify through Q-school as well as the first Korean in the PGA.

The other seven PGA members of Korean descent are Koreans Yang Yong-eun, Charlie Wi, Bae Sang-moon, John Huh and Noh Seung-yul, together with Korean Americans Kevin Na and Anthony Kim who is currently out until mid 2013 following surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon in his left leg.

But Korean men have a ways to go before they can match the success of Korean women in professional golf. Of the 128 full-time players on the LPGA Tour, 42 are Korean.

This year’s Q-school also produced two more likely future PGA members of Korean descent: Korean-New Zealander Danny Lee who finished 27th with a 16-under 216 and Kim Meen-whee who finished 43rd with a 14-under 218.

While only the top 25 players qualify for a PGA tour card, Lee and Kim are eligible to enter the lower-tier Web.com Tour in 2013. Beginning next year Web.com tour will replace Q-school as the path to earning a PGA tour card.