Genesis Championship: Brandon Stone backed in Korea at 45/1

• Playoff qualification up for grabs

• GIR likely to be the key stat

• Read my ZOZO Championship preview here

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Tournament History

This a new event on the DP World Tour, created by the merger of two previous tournaments - the Genesis Championship on the Korean Tour and the once only staged Korea Championship on the DP World Tour, which was won by Pablo Larrazabal at the end of April last year.

Both tournaments were staged at this week's venue - the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea.

The event is co-sanctioned between the Korean tour and the DP World Tour with the field comprising of 90 DP World Tour players and 30 KPGA Tour players, and it's a vital tournament for those plying their trade on the DP World Tour.

As the last counting event of the regular season, the top 114 players on the Race to Dubai Rankings at the conclusion of the tournament will earn their DP World Tour cards for 2025, while the top 70 will qualify for the DP World Tour Play-Offs.

The DP World Tour playoffs consist of just two events - the Abu Dhabi Championship in a fortnight's time and the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai the following week.

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Venue

Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea, Incheon, South Korea

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Course Details

Par 72, 7470 yards

The Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea is described as a unique urban golf course that offers views of modern high-rise buildings along with the peaceful natural scenery of the west coast.

It's made up of two bentgrass nine-hole loops called the Urban and the Links although the two names merely confuse as it's not very linksy.

It opened in 2010 and it was used for the Songdo Championship on the Champions Tour in both 2010 and 2011 before hosting the Presidents Cup in 2015.

It was also the venue for the International Crown event on the LPGA Tour in 2018 and it's hosted all seven editions of the previous incarnation of the Genesis Championship on the Korean Tour, as well as the once only staged Korea Championship on the DP World Tour last year.

Water is a constant theme and how tough it plays is very much dependant on the weather conditions.

As an indication as to how the wind can affect this coastal course, the winning scores in the seven editions of Genesis Championship ranged between -6 and -18.

Pablo Larrazabal won the Korea Championship in 12-under but given PGA Tour star, Sungjae Im won the Genesis Championship here in 2019 in just six-under-par, it must play tough when the wind blows.

For more on the course, see the two clips below. The first one features Jack Nicklaus talking about the design of the course prior to the Presidents Cup and the second is a hole-by-hole tour.

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Weather Forecast

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TV Coverage

Live on Sky Sports all four days, starting at 6:00 on Thursday

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What Will it Take to Win the Genesis Championship?

We don't have any stats to look back at from any of the seven editions of the previous manifestation of the Genesis Championship, but we do have stats from the Korea Championship last year.

Here's the top-six with the traditional stats and the Strokes Gained stats.

Pablo Larrazabal -12 DD-38 DA-20 GIR-5 SC-12 PA 15
Marcus Helligkilde -10 DD-1 DA-28 GIR-1 SC-30 PA 30
Jorge Campillo -9 DD-12 DA- 5 GIR-15 SC-2 PA 25
Scott Jamieson -9 DD-22 DA-41 GIR-35 SC-1 PA 26
Joost Luiten -9 DD-30 DA-9 GIR-13 SC-32 PA 16
Sanghyun Park -9 No Stats

DD - Driving Distance
DA - Driving Accuracy
GIR - Greens In Regulation
SC - Scrambling
PA - Putting Average

Pablo Larrazabal -12 SGT-28 SGA-6 SGATG-2 SGT2G-2 SGP -55
Marcus Helligkilde -10 SGT-7 SGA-1 SGATG-21 SGT2G -1 SGP -68
Jorge Campillo -9 SGT-5 SGA-13 SGATG-54 SGT2G -6 SGP -22
Scott Jamieson -9 SGT-24 SGA-63 SGATG-3 SGT2G -18 SGP -9
Joost Luiten -9 SGT-1 SGA-18 SGATG-10 SGT2G -3 SGP -59
Sanghyun Park -9 No Stats

SGT - Strokes Gained Off the Tee
SGA - Strokes Gained On Approach
SGATG - Strokes Gained Around the Green
SGT2G - Strokes Gained Tee to Green
SGP - Strokes Gained Putting

We can't give one event's stats too much credence but accurate iron play appeared to be key with the first and second ranking fifth and first for Greens In Regulation and second and first for SG: Tee to Green and it doesn't look like a venue at which you need to putt brilliantly.

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Home contingent unlikely to contend

Sanghyun Park was the only Korean to finish inside the top-nine places in the Korea Championship here last year and nerves may have got to hm on the last day given he sat tied for second with a round to go, just one behind the leader, Robert MacIntyre, who finished tied for 10^th.

And it was a similar story when the DP World Tour visited Japan the week before for another co-sanctioned event - the ISPS Handa Championship

Despite make up a fairly large percentage of the field, and despite having a reasonable bank of course form, the home contingency largely struggled and the experienced 42-year-old, Hiroshi Iwata, was the only player from Japan to finish inside the top-11 places. And he shot 65 from off the pace to climb into the places.

Takumi Kanaya and course winner, Rikuya Hoshino, both sat tied for fourth and just two off the lead with a round to go but both fell away on Sunday with so much on the line.

Earning a spot on the DP World Tour is a big deal and the pressure very often takes it's toll.

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Will any of the Bubble Boys make a move?

There are DP World Tour players in the field this week that are desperate for a good finish to either secure their playing privileges for next season or to earn a spot in the playoffs.

Those outside the top 110 will need to raise their game to keep their cards and that creates an awful lot of pressure, but they'll also feel they have nothing to lose, and that's even more the case for those that have their playing rights wrapped up but that are eying a spot in Abu Dhabi in two weeks.

It would be no surprise at all to see one or two players that sit around the 110-mark contending and it's even more likely that we see players just outside the top 70 finding something extra.

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In-Play Tactics

Kim Seung-hyuk was eight clear with a round to play when winning the inaugural edition of the previous incarnation of the Genesis Championship here in 2017 and Kim Tae-hoon had been four in front before winning by two in 2020 but the other five winners all came from off the pace and three of them were outside the top-four places with a round to go.

The 2018 winner, Lee Tae-hee, trailed by five before a 67 in round four saw him win by two, Jaekyung Lee (2021) and Kim Young-so (2022), trailed by four and three strokes respectively, and Sungjae Im trailed by seven through 54 holes in 2019, before going on to win by two. Although he lost a two-shot 54-hole lead in the final renewal last year having led after rounds one and two too.

Larrazabal was always inside the top five and he sat second and one back with a round to go.

Looking at the hole averages, the hardest five holes on the course at last year's Korea Championship were encountered in a six hole stretch between holes six and 11.

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Home guard head the market

The Korean pair, Tom Kim and Byeong Hun An, head the market at 9/110.00 and 11/112.00 respectively and if forced to pick one of the two it would be Kim.

The 22-year-old missed the cut in Vegas last week when seeking a third straight victory at the Shriners Children's Open, but he was on the wrong side of the very lopsided draw and it's a performance we can readily ignore.

That was also Kim's first start in more than two months so he may well be sharper this week and he'll certainly be involved if he reproduces the bits and pieces of form in the summer that saw him finish fourth at the Canadian Open, second at the Travelers Championship and eighth at the Olympics. But he may just have been handicapped by the draw again.

It's still early days to take the forecasts too seriously but PM-AM looks to be the worst side if Friday morning transpires to be as blowy as predicted.

An is on the right side of the draw if the weather pans out as predicted with the wind due to ease a bit on Friday afternoon but it's two years since his sole success in the States, on the Korn Ferry Tour, and more than nine since he won his one and only title on the DP World Tour, and that's off putting.

Having won last year's DP World Tour Championship, Denmark's Nicolai Hojgaard will be desperate to qualify for the Abu Dhabi Championship in order to give himself a shot at defending in Dubai.

Sitting at number 78 in the Race to Dubai rankings, he needs a decent finish to progress, but he was disappointing in Spain last week and I'm not sure he's playing well enough to be trading at just 22.021/1.

Like the front two in the market, Hojgaard is playing here for the first time.

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Stylish Stone finishing the season in style

I've got one here for the Find me a 100 Winner column but my only other pick before the off is the frustrating South African, Brandon Stone.

It's now six years since Stone won his third DP World Tour title at the Scottish Open when he charged home on Sunday to win by four when he posted a sensational 60 in round four at Gullane.

The fact that he still hasn't added to his tally is a bit of a mystery, but it could all be down to application given he's only recently bucked his ideas up again as the threat of losing his playing privileges increased.

He's as safe as houses now in 73^rd place and a place in the field at the Abu Dhabi Championship is now in his sights after an impressive run of form.

He missed the cut at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship but that's the only blemish in his last six starts and there have been one or two big hints that he might just be ready to win again.

He signed off the Open de France with a quite brilliant 64 on Sunday to finish 10^th and he was 17^th at the Andalucia Masters last week, again finishing nicely with a six-under-par 66.

Stone has been allocated the possibly favourable AM-PM draw and he's an excellent wind exponent anyway.

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*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter