• Tournament: GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship
• Date: May 2-5, 2024
• Leg: Sixth event of 2024 season
• Edition: 43rd (Asian Tour 1999-2003, 2005-2009, 2018-2019, 2023)
• Venue: Namseoul Country Club, Seongnam, Seoul, South Korea
• Course designer: Seiichi Inoue (JPN)
• Year Opened: 1971
• Course Record: 61, Chung Chun-Hsing (TPE) GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship 2001
• Purse: KRW1,300,000,000
• Par/Yards: 71 / 7,083
• Field: 144
• Format: 72-hole stroke play with a cut made after two rounds to the leading 65 professionals and ties
• Social Media Hashtags: #MaekyungOpen #whereitsAT

Chanmin Jung celebrates on the 18th last year. Picture supplied by GS Caltex Maekyung Open committee.

FIELD BREAKDOWN 

• Order of Merit winners: Sihwan Kim (USA) 2022, Jazz Janewattananond (THA) 2019
• Nationalities: 16
• Past winners of tournament in the field: Chanmin Jung (KOR), Bio Kim (KOR), Inhoi Hur (KOR), Taehee Lee (KOR), Sanghyun Park (KOR), Sanghee Lee (KOR), Kyongjun Moon (KOR), Innchoon Hwang (KOR), Jongduck Kim (KOR)
• Defending champion: Chanmin Jung (KOR) -16 (won by 6 strokes over weather shortened 54 holes in 2023)
• Highest ranked player in field on OWGR: John Catlin (USA) 155
• Highest ranked player on 2024 Asian Tour Order of Merit: John Catlin (USA) #1
• No. of amateurs: 8
• No. of Korean players in the field: 87

Bio Kim won for the second time in 2022. Picture supplied by GS Caltex Maekyung Open committee.

TOURNAMENT KEY NOTES + STORYLINES

• Order of Merit leader John Catlin is coming off back-to-back wins at the Saudi Open presented by PIF and International Series Macau presented by Wynn. He will be returning to Namseoul Country Club for the first time since 2018 when he finished eighth. Catlin, who is a six-time winner on the Asian Tour and a three-time winner on the DP World Tour, will be looking to extend his lead on the Order of Merit with his eight closest OOM pursuers not playing in Korea. He is attempting to become the first player in the history of the Asian Tour to win three events in a row.
• Thailand’s Denwit Boriboonsub is making his first appearance in this tournament and will look to continue his good form of the past six months. The 20-year-old should feel confident after a final round 63 at the Saudi Open presented by PIF two weeks ago where he finished tied 17th, despite a five over par 76 in the third round. He has a tied third place finish in the IRS Prima Malaysian Open, which earned him a ticket to the Open Championship, and a ninth place in the International Series Macau presented by Wynn as his best finishes of the season and sits in 10th place on the Order of Merit. At the end of 2023 Denwit posted three straight victories.
• Local favourite Bio Kim won the 2022 and 2012 editions of the tournament and has a very impressive record at Namseoul overall, with a tied sixth in 2023 and five other top-five finishes in the previous 15 times he’s played in the GS Caltex Maekyung Open. Kim has tied 13th in the IRS Prima Malaysian Open as his best Asian Tour result this season and has recently posted two top 10s on the Korean Tour.
• Korea’s Sanghyun Park is also a two-time winner of the tournament, with both of his victories coming in playoffs in 2016 and 2018. Park has posted 12 wins on the Korean Tour and two on the Japan Tour during his career. He recently finished runner up at the DB Insurance Promy Open, the first event on the 2024 Korean Tour schedule.
• Taehee Lee of Korea won the tournament in back-to-back years in 2019-2020 and is a four-time winner in Korea during his career. Not off to the best start on his 2024 Asian Tour campaign, he will be looking at the return to Namseoul as a chance to rekindle his form. Recently posted a tied 10th finish at the KPGA Founders Cup, the second event of the Korean Tour season, and a tied 11th last week at the Woori Financial Group Championship.
• Korean players have won the last 19 editions of the GS Caltex Maekyung Open, going all the way back to 2004 when American Mark Calcavecchia, the winner of the 1989 Open Championship, captured the event.
• Established in 1982, the tournament has mostly been staged at the Namseoul, but it has also been held at three different venues. The other venues that have been used are Lakeside Country Club in 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2006, Gwanak Country Club in 1984 and Elysian Gangchon Country Club in 2020.
• In 2005, Korean Sangho Choi won the tournament and set an Asian Tour record as the oldest winner on the Asian Tour at 50 years and 145 days.
• Five players have won the tournament twice, Bio Kim, Sanghyun Park, Taehee Lee, Kyungtae Kim and Namsin Park. No player has won the title three times.

COURSE YARDAGES