Preview
2023 Korea Championship Tips
You can sign up for all our Korea Championship tips and DP World Tour tips for 2023 by clicking the button below.
Event Info
Starts: 27th April 2023
Course: Jack Nicklaus GC
Par: 72
Length: 7,470 yards
2022 Champion: New Event
Course Info
Course Designer: Jack Nicklaus
Par 5's: 3rd, 7th, 15th and 18th
Hosted Since: 2023
Weather Forecast
Thursday
Sunny. Wind 5-9mph.
Friday
Cloudy. Wind 8-12mph.
Saturday
Sunny. Wind 9-14mph.
Sunday
Sunny. Wind 8-140mph.
Significant Info To Be Aware Of
- This may be the first time Jack Nicklaus GC has hosted a DP World Tour event but it has been a regular host course on the Korean Tour, hosting the Genesis Championship.
- The course also hosted the 2015 Presidents Cup. Videos of that event are available on YouTube if you'd like to familiarise yourself further with the course.
Trends
Winning score
Winning scores for the last five Genesis Championships held at Jack Nicklaus GC have been between -6 and -14. It should be noted that most of those years it has been closer to -6 than it has to -14.
Jack Nicklaus GC Player Quotes
"The greens are very tricky. It will be very difficult making putts and trying to get the ball in the right positions, but beautiful place." Bubba Watson, 2015
"I guess it's not a traditional Korean golf course. It's kind of tighter. Out-of-bounds, kind of everywhere and then the greens are elevated a little bit. Here it's more traditional; it feels like America with how the layout is. It's definitely long. I mean, it's traditional kind of Nicklaus course where it's a little forgiving off the tee box, a little more forgiving off the tee box, and kind of deadly if you short-side yourself. So it's position, second shots is crucial, into these kind of greens, because it is -- there's a lot of undulation on the greens and they are very difficult. So it's going to be hard if you're not hitting it straight." Jason Day, 2015
"You can hit it out there and be pretty aggressive, which is fine. That's fine, especially with match play and this kind of format. The green complexes certainly are the course's defense in my opinion." Zach Johnson, 2015
"I think it's great for long hitters. You've got some pretty big fairways and you can definitely attack it with your irons." J.B. Holmes, 2015
"Off the tee, I think it's a second-shot golf course. Off the tee it's easier than what we are used to seeing, wide fairways and soft fairways. From there, it's about the approaches. The greens have a lot of different shelves and almost different greens within the greens, three or four small greens within a green with the ridges. So it's a matter of trying to place your second shot where it's the easiest to putt from. Almost I think it's a second shot type of course. I think you're going to see a lot of birdies this week." Jordan Spieth, 2015.
"The challenge of the golf course is setting yourself up on the greens. It seems to be a lot of second shot driven. So I think it's about giving yourself the best chance to make birdie, especially on -- because you can have some serious little breakers here on the golf course. So you want to be very conscientious of where you're leaving the golf ball on the green." Jimmy Walker, 2015
"It reminds me a lot of Dove Mountain. I've had some good success at Dove Mountain, so I'm excited to be here. The tricky part around here are the greens. You're not going to miss many fairways. They're quite generous fairways. The fairways are soft so it will be hard to miss the fairways. The keys are approach shots and putting. Well, with the wide fairways, I think you give the long guys an advantage. That being said, that was most of the MO at Dove Mountain, and a couple short hitters did well, myself, Luke Donald have won there. So it's always an advantage to hit the ball far. It's never a disadvantage. But you still got to get the ball in the hole and around these greens. It's important to position yourself in the right spots." Matt Kuchar, 2015
2023 Korea Championship Tips
You can sign up for all our Korea Championship tips and DP World Tour tips for 2023 by clicking the button below.
In-play
2023 Korea Championship In-Play Blog
29th April 2023, 6:30pm (UK time)
Player | Total |
MacIntyre |
-8 |
Larrazabal (thru 16) |
-8 |
Jamieson |
-7 |
Park (thru 14) |
-7 |
Meronk |
-6 |
Mansell |
-6 |
Helligkilde |
-6 |
Six players tied |
-6 |
2023 Korea Championship Round 3 Summary
A two hour weather delay meant that the final groups were unable to complete their third round. Robert MacIntyre managed to squeeze in a closing birdie before play finished and he'll be glad he doesn't have to come back to the course early tomorrow morning to finish his round. MacIntyre is currently joined at the top by our 80/1 pre-event selection, Pablo Larrazabal. The Spaniard has he opportunity to take sole possession of the lead given he has the par five 18th hole to play, the second easiest hole this week.
Notable Round 3 Korea Championship Quotes
"It (short game) was absolutely brilliant, if I'm being honest. I missed quite a lot of greens today and I just knew that my attitude had to be good. Just accept where it ended up and try your best. I surprised myself with some of the shots. Even that one on the 18th, I was trying to just cut spin it and it came out dead straight but had so much spin on it. I left myself in the right spots, always into wind. The 17th was a bit more difficult, I didn't get preferred lies so it wasn't perfect. It was sitting higher and it popped a little on me." Robert MacIntyre
2023 Korea Championship Round 4 Weather
Sunny intervals. Wind 10-17mph with gusts of up to 30mph.
Back or Lay The Favourite?
Robert MacIntyre is the 5/2 favourite. There's no doubting the talent our fellow countryman possesses but that's a price that is too short for us to back. MacIntyre has very little experience of leading going into a final round and whilst his win in Italy last autumn was impressive, he's had a couple of poor efforts in contention since (Andalucia Masters and Kenya Open).
MacIntyre's approach play has let him down so far this week and it's a concern that he ranks 65th for Greens in Regulation through the opening three rounds. He relied on his short game in round three but he'll need to improve on his approach play to have a chance of winning.
Winning on the DP World Tour is never easy and tomorrow's final round will once again see players contend with a significant amount of wind. Add a couple of quality chasers in the group at six under par and the 5/2 on the joint leader doesn't stand out.
In-Play Korea Championship Bets We Considered
With Larrazabal potentially an 80/1 winner, we have the option of backing him up with some of the chasing pack. As we mentioned above, the three players at six under par strongly appeal and of those, Helligkilde and Meronk are the two who we could see edging out the leading pair. Those of you who hold big bets on Larrazabal at big odds and wish to hedge may want to play Helligkilde and Meronk in the Top Continental European market.
Fabrizio Zanotti can be backed at 11/10 with bet365 for a top 20 finish and that's a price that we certainly like. A player who is competent in the wind, his scores have ranged between 70 and72 so far this week and another effort in that region would see him go close to a top 20.
Unfortunately with round three yet to finish, we have no two balls to analyse.
Round 4 Bets
Want to know which bets we went for? You can sign up for all our DP World Tour tips for 2023 by clicking the button below.
28th April 2023, 5:00pm (UK time)
Player | Total |
Paul |
-8 |
Park |
-8 |
Lorenzo Vera |
-7 |
Rozner |
-7 |
Six players tied |
-6 |
2023 Korea Championship Round 2 Summary
Antoine Rozner struggled with a right miss off the tee for much of the day and that was ultimately his downfall when making a treble bogey 7 at the 9th hole. Yannik Paul dropped a solitary stroke on his way to a secoond consecutive 68 and he's joint leader with local Sanghyun Park.
Notable Round 2 Korea Championship Quotes
"I think they're expecting quite a bit of wind over the weekend so I think they used all the hard pins today. The weather was really good. It was actually warmer than I thought. But yeah, the pins made it hard to get close to. And if you're on the wrong side, you have absolutely no shot. I think you've just got to stay patient and wait for your chances." Yannik Paul
2023 Korea Championship Round 3 Weather
Rain throughout the day with the rain heaviest around lunchtime local time. Wind 12-17mph but gusts of up to 30mph..
Back or Lay The Favourite?
Yannik Paul has taken over at the front of the betting after Antoine Rozner struggled in round two. The German would certainly be under greater consideration but for an interesting weather forecast for round three. Paul will have to play in the toughest of conditions and he'd be a lay for us at this stage of proceedings.
In-Play Korea Championship Bets We Considered
Given the forecast, we spent a long time looking at players who may be able to go out early and post a score. With only light rain and light winds forecast early on, those players who are at level par or one under could well post a score before the worst of the weather hits. Oliver Wilson ranks 4th for greens in regulation this week and tees off at 9am. A proven performer in wind and a winner last year on Tour, he could well be one to make a move.
Mike Lorenzo-Vera (13/8) to beat Antoine Rozner was a bet we looked at in the two ball market. We weren't impressed with Rozner's long game in round two and he appeared to be fighting his swing. Tapio Pulkannen was the other stand out two ball price in our eyes and if you have Skybet access the 10/11 would appeal. The general 8/11 less so.
Round 3 Bets
Want to know which bets we went for? You can sign up for all our DP World Tour tips for 2023 by clicking the button below.
27th April 2023, 5:05pm (UK time)
Player | Total |
Rozner |
-9 |
Park |
-5 |
Sullivan |
-5 |
Five Players Tied |
-4 |
2023 Korea Championship Round 1 Summary
Antoine Rozner cruised into a four shot lead with a sensational 63, creating a four shot lead at the end of the day. Pre-event favourites Rasmus Hojgaard and Jordan Smith fell ELEVEN shots behind after a pair of 74's.
Notable Round 1 Korea Championship Quotes
"I played really solid again. I feel like my game's trending in the right direction so I've just got to keep persevering with it." Andy Sullivan
"A lot of things went my way today. I obviously played well but you need a bit of luck to shoot 63, especially on a hard golf course like this one." Antoine Rozner
2023 Korea Championship Round 2 Weather
Sunny with increasing clouds by late afternoon. Rain likely overnight. Wind 10-15mph.
How do we expect the market favourites to perform?
The question now is do we take Rozner on? He is as short as 2/1 and we can't argue he isn't a class act in this field. However, the weather forecast for the weekend is windy and that brings in all sorts of variables. An afternoon tee time tomorrow should see his lead cut significatly and we expect the lead to shorten by Saturday.
Where is the value?
Earyly staters will have the best of the conditions tomorrow so we are looking for potential movers from that wave. Sign up using the link below to get all our tips!
Round 2 Bets
Our in-play golf picks are for subscribers only. You can sign up for all our DP World Tour tips for 2023 by clicking the button below.