Genesis Championship 2026 preview picks analysis

It is time for the talking to stop. This week’s Genesis Championship in South Korea is the final regular event in the DP World Tour season - and that means a last chance to secure places in the playoff events in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and, more crucially, to secure playing privileges for 2027.

So that means there is going to be a LOT of pressure.

A star-studded field includes the likes of Eugenio Chacarra, who is a serious contender to win the Race to Dubai, Casey Jarvis and Open champion Ryan Fox.

Ryan Fox

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

There will also be huge local interest in the performances of home favourites Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim.

For once, Scotland's Scott Jamieson arrives with no concerns about his future. The 42-year-old has spent most of career fighting to keep his card but his sensational victory on home soil at the Nexo Championship in August changed everything. He turns up this week with genuine hopes of making it to the playoffs. His season has been a real mixed bag, with 12 missed cuts to go with that victory in Scotland.

His first Tour title came at the 2013 Nelson Mandela Championship, which was played over only 36 holes after severe weather conditions throughout the week caused lengthy delays.

Jamieson turned professional after representing Scotland in the Eisenhower Trophy in 2006 and won twice on the PGA EuroPro Tour in 2009.

He finished first on the EuroPro Order of Merit in 2009 and then graduated from the European Challenge Tour in 2010 and has represented Great Britain and Ireland twice at the Seve Trophy.

I love watching Chacarra - who just won the DP World India Championship. It is like watching a reincarnation of Seve Ballesteros. It is still early days in the young Spaniard’s career and he has yet to develop the charisma that made Seve stand apart from his rivals. Like Ballesteros, Chacarra misses a lot of fairways. But just like the legendary Spaniard, his powers of recovery are truly remarkable. His use of the long putter may offend some purists but there are times when he wields it like a magic wand.

Sungjae Im is a machine. Remarkably, he has only won twice on the PGA Tour. He missed his first two cuts and then went on to enjoy three top-five finishes.

Im won twice and was Player of the Year on the 2018 Web.com Tour and he was Rookie of the Year for the 2018-19 PGA Tour, before securing his first PGA Tour victory at the Honda Classic in March 2020 and following it in 2021 with success at the Shriners. He also has three Korean Tour wins.

In 231 starts on the PGA Tour, he has also had five runner-up finishes, six thirds, 25 top fives, 53 top 10s and an astonishing 110 top 25s. It is quite a record.

Si Woo Kim is most famous for being the youngest golfer ever to win the Players Championship, something he achieved in 2017 when he was just 21 years old.

He finished tied for 20th at the 2012 PGA Tour qualifying school but because he was only 17 years, 5 months, 6 days old at the time, the youngest player ever to graduate, he could not become a PGA Tour member until he turned 18, midway through the 2013 season. Unsurprisingly, he lost his card.

He played on the Web.com Tour in 2014, making 15 of 19 cuts, including a third-place finish at the Cleveland Open, and the following year he claimed the Stonebrae Classic, becoming the second-youngest winner in Web.com Tour history, after Jason Day. He finished 2015 in 10th place in the Web.com Tour money list, to earn a place on the PGA Tour for 2016. He has since won four times on the PGA Tour and will be relishing a return to home soil.

Twelve months ago, South Korean Junghwan Lee produced what he described as his "best round" to delight the home crowd at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club in Cheonan. Lee fired a superb seven-under final round of 64 to finish at 11-under, three shots clear of England's Laurie Canter and Spaniard Nacho Elvira.

"I bogeyed the second hole but afterwards I grabbed (five) consecutive birdies and that really made the game easier and built momentum," Lee said. "This was my best round, especially as the gallery out there were really cheering for me. They gave me the strength I needed. I just hope I can live up to their expectations in the future as well. I feel like I'm in a dream and still can't believe I won, so it's really hard for me to describe what I'm feeling."

Canter holed a monster putt from 100 feet on the 18th for a sensational eagle and a share of second. His 67 also included three birdies.

Tournament Winners:

The inaugural event in 2024 was won by Ben An and last year by Junghwan Lee.

The Course:

Woo Jeong Hills CC in Cheonan in a par 71 measuring 7,367 yards. It opened in 1993 and has the feel of a PGA Tour layout, with undulating fairways, plenty of water hazards and tree-lined fairways. The rough is short so scores are going to be low.

Form Guide:

Sungjae Im plays more golf than just about any other leading professional, is one of the most consistent players in the game and would love to win on home soil.

Prize Money:

Total prize money is $4m, with 5,000 Race to Dubai points going to the winner along with 1,500 Ryder Cup points.

How to Watch:

Thursday, October 22, Sky Sports Golf, 4am; Friday, October 23, Sky Sports Golf, 4am; Saturday, October 24, Sky Sports Golf, 4.30am; Sunday, October 25, Sky Sports Golf, 3.30am.