LIV Golf Korea preview: Can Brooks Koepka get his first win of the season?

LIV Golf wraps up the first half of the 2025 season with this week’s LIV Golf Korea presented by Coupang Play, the seventh tournament during the 14-event league schedule. Here is everything to know before the action begins live on FOX Sports.

BASIC INFO

When: May 2-4

Where: Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea

Competition: Three rounds/54 holes of stroke play

Field: 54 players – 13 teams of four players each, and two wild cards

Shotgun Start local time
Rd. 1, 11:05 a.m. (May 1, 10:05 p.m. ET)
Rd. 2, 11:35 a.m. (May 2, 10:35 p.m. ET)
Rd. 3, 12:25 p.m. (May 3, 11:25 p.m. ET)

KEY STORYLINES

LIV Golf makes its first visit to South Korea, which becomes the 10th different country to host a LIV Golf tournament
LIV Golf Korea marks the halfway point of the 2025 season, with six regular-season tournaments and the Michigan Team Championship scheduled for the second half
Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea becomes the first course to host both a LIV Golf tournament and a Presidents Cup
Seven full-time LIV Golf players have won professional tournaments in Korea – Brooks Koepka, Graeme McDowell, Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Yubin Jang, Lee Westwood and Marc Leishman
10 players who competed in the 2015 Presidents Cup held at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea are in the field – International Team members Branden Grace, Anirban Lahiri, Danny Lee, Marc Leishman, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, and United States Team members Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed and Bubba Watson
Season-long points leader Joaquin Niemann, captain of Torque GC, will seek his fourth individual win of the season after his victory in Mexico City that clinched the LIV Golf exemption for the U.S. Open in June
Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII won their second tournament of the season in Mexico City and have vaulted to the top of the season-long team standings
Korea marks the final LIV Golf event before golf’s next major, the PGA Championship, in which 12 LIV Golf players are scheduled to compete

‘MAJOR’ WEEK FOR IRON HEADS

Iron Heads GC Captain Kevin Na describes this week’s LIV Golf Korea presented by Coupang Play as his team’s “major” – and with good reason.

Three members of the Iron Heads were born in Korea – Na in Seoul; Yubin Jang in the suburb of Gyeonggi-do; and Danny Lee, born and raised in Incheon, the site of Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea where this week’s tournament will be held.

“Having LIV Golf held in my hometown Incheon, it doesn’t get more special than this,” said Lee. “I was born in Incheon and live there until I was in elementary school. That’s why LIV Golf being held in Incheon feels incredibly meaningful to me. The fact that I’ll be competing there alongside the world’s top players still feels surreal, and I can’t wait to play in front of the fans.”

Na, an original LIV Golf member, has encouraged the league to play in South Korea, especially with golf’s popularity booming in the country in recent years. Nearly 17% of adults (6.24 million people) participated in the sport at least once during the 2023 calendar year.

“I’m thrilled to finally be able to show Korean fans the unique culture and gameplay that LIV Golf offers,” Na said, adding that “it’s a completely different style from traditional golf, and it’s bound to be a refreshing change. Especially in Korea, where there’s a growing number of golf fans in their 20s and 30s, I think the response will be even stronger. LIV Golf is truly appealing to the younger generation.”

The Iron Heads hope that enthusiastic home support will lead to their first-ever team title. Lee is the only team member to celebrate a trophy, having won the individual title in Tucson in 2023.

“Having three players born in Korea on the same team and representing Asia makes this really meaningful,” Lee said. “Whether it’s in the team competition or the individual format, if we can deliver a strong performance, I’d love to share that joy with our fans.”

ABOUT THE COURSE

JACK NICKLAUS GOLF CLUB KOREA

Incheon, South Korea

Par 72

Yardage 7,344

Meters 6,715

Nicklaus Design, headed by legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus, designed the course that opened in October 2010 and is among the 25 worldwide Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Courses
The course is the focal point of the Songdo International Business District’s environmentally focused green space program and is an annual World Golf Awards nominee for South Korea’s Best Golf Course
A variety of notable tournaments across multiple tours have been played at the course, including the 2015 Presidents Cup – the first one played in Asia – and the International Crown, an eight-nation team event on the LPGA Tour
Ten current LIV Golf players competed in the Presidents Cup – four on the winning U.S. team and six for the International team
Stinger GC’s Branden Grace was the most productive player on either team, winning all five of his matches for the International team
HyFlyers GC Captain Phil Mickelson tied for the most productive player for the U.S., with 3.5 points in his four matches played
More than half the holes feature ponds or lakes that come into play, including three of the four par-3 holes

Golf Digest named it as the fourth-best course in South Korea, writing: “This is an impressive Nicklaus design, one that transformed a flat, dull site into a surprisingly rolling, pine-dotted layout with water on 11 holes, equitably distributed with six hazards to the left and five to the right.”

This piece is courtesy of Mike McAllister in partnership with LIV Golf.

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