Sung Kang needed a place to play golf and found opportunity on 3 tours in 18 countries: Analysis

Updated Oct. 22, 2024 11:37 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Sung Kang didn't have the status to get in another full year on the PGA Tour, so he looked elsewhere. He found the Bahamas and Bahrain. He went as far south as Argentina, as far north as Denmark. He played at sea level and in the Alps.

He has learned plenty this year, such as this nugget for anyone curious.

“Singapore to Houston is really far,” Kang said early Tuesday in South Korea, the 18th country he has played in this year. He was dealing with jet lag from the 6,400-mile (10,300-kilometer) flight to Seoul from the Andalucia Masters along the southern coast of Spain.

Kang was referring to a trip in late March. He missed the cut in the Singapore Classic on the European tour and flew to Texas the next day so he could arrive in time for a Monday qualifier at the Houston Open. He shot 67 to get in and then missed the cut.

Next stop: Savannah, Georgia, for a Korn Ferry Tour event.

Such are the lengths — closing in on 100,000 miles (160,000 km) in the air this year — the 37-year-old Kang was willing to travel from his home in Dallas just to keep playing, keep grinding, keep searching, all with hopes of finding his game and a path back to full status on the PGA Tour.

It's a longer road than he imagined.

He is playing his 33rd tournament of the season this week in the Genesis Championship in his native South Korea, his 14th start on the European tour. He played 13 times on the Korn Ferry Tour and six times on the PGA Tour, either as a Monday qualifier or a past champion from having won the Byron Nelson in 2019.

That doesn't include qualifying for the U.S. Open, which led to one of the shorter commutes. Kang played a Korn Ferry Tour event in South Carolina the week before going to Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina.

“I've never done anything like this,” Kang said. “I've traveled more than I have in my life. I've been to South America, to the Middle East. When I was on the KPGA (Korea), it was more driving. When I came to the PGA Tour in 2011, it was mostly in the U.S. But nowhere close to this. My main goal is get the tour card back. I had no choice.”

It was almost a year ago to the day when the European tour provided such an option.

A strategic alliance allows for the leading 10 players from the European tour (not already exempt) to get PGA Tour cards. In return, the European tour last October offered membership to anyone on the PGA Tour who finished between No. 126 and No. 200 in the FedEx Cup.

Kang, who played 10 full seasons on the PGA Tour, had his worst year. He finished at No. 193.

The caveat was no more than five players from this new category could play any given week on the European tour if there was room for them. There weren't many takers.

Jonas Blixt of Sweden, who finished at No. 197, took the offer and has played exclusively on the European tour. The Genesis Championship in South Korea will be his 23rd start on the Old World circuit this year. Dylan Frittelli (No. 160) was another. He won in Bahrain in early February and has stayed mainly on the European tour ever since.

For all the travel, Kang's game is not anywhere close to where he wants it. He missed the cut in all but one of his Korn Ferry Tour starts. His only cut on the PGA Tour was at the Byron Nelson. He made only five cuts on the European tour — Qatar, Prague, Denmark, Madrid and the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland.

He felt his short game carried him when he struggled with his iron game. Once he finally started hitting it better, he felt he was out of practice on so many 15- to 20-foot putts. All the while, he had trouble patching together a series of good scores.

“This year has been so weird,” Kang said, making a statement that can cover a lot of territory.

He has no regrets about the decision. Kang said the Korn Ferry Tour represents a shift in the game from when he played that developmental circuit a decade ago. The players are younger, longer, more athletic. The scoring typically was so low he felt he should try his hand in Europe.

Neither has gone well, except for the scenery.

Kang had never been to Europe outside the U.K. His favorite city was Prague. The most beautiful scenery was a train from Zurich to Crans Montana in Switzerland. The biggest surprise? A week of gorgeous weather in Scotland during the Dunhill.

The worst of it was time away, especially with three children — a 6-year-old, a 2 1/2-year-old and the youngest born five months ago.

“I'm missing them growing up,” Kang said.

Perhaps that's one silver lining of poor results" He goes home whenever he misses the cut and he's within 1,000 miles or so of Dallas.

All that, and his future remains just as uncertain.

He won't have that European option next year from having accrued only minimal FedEx Cup points from the one cut he made on the PGA Tour.

“I have to find a place to play next year,” Kang said. “There's no guarantee how many I'll get in on the PGA Tour. I need some sort of backup. Hopefully, I won't travel as much."

The travel has been tiring, but he says his energy level is fine on the golf course. For now, he's not done trying. He has the Genesis Championship this week, and his plan is another Monday qualifier on the PGA Tour in two weeks in Mexico.

After a year like this, December probably can't get here soon enough.

Or maybe not.

“Q-school is the first week of December,” he said.

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