Iron Head GC of LIV Golf announced Jang Yu-bin's joining on social media on the 11th. Captain Kevin Na also stated, "Jang Yu-bin, who has been active on the KPGA Tour for the past year, has become a member of Iron Head GC. I am already looking forward to seeing what he will show in LIV Golf."
Jang Yu-bin, who won a gold medal in the men's team event at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, has been performing exceptionally well on the KPGA Tour this year. Including victories at the Gunsan CC Open and the Baeksong Holdings-Asiad CC Busan Open, he has made the top 10 ten times and has claimed all major titles on the KPGA Tour.
Having secured the top spot in Genesis Award points, he was scheduled to participate in the final round of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament starting on the 13th. However, after receiving an official offer from LIV Golf on the 7th, he signed the final contract on the 9th. On the 11th, he communicated his intention to withdraw from the final round of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament.
Jang Yu-bin explained, "I received my first offer from LIV Golf in mid-November and began to contemplate what decision to make with my management. Until last week, I was weighing the challenge of the PGA Tour against the transfer to LIV Golf. After much deliberation, I decided to perform in LIV Golf and signed the contract two days ago."
As for the reason for choosing LIV Golf over the PGA Tour, he cited the competition with world-class players like Jon Rahm (Spain) and Brooks Koepka (USA). He said, "It felt special to be able to compete with top-ranked players whom I had only seen on TV starting next year. I thought it was a rare opportunity, which led me to join LIV Golf."
He added, "Being the first Korean player to navigate LIV Golf feels special to me. I believe that being the first in anything holds significance. The enormous prize money also played a crucial role in my decision to choose LIV Golf."
Jang Yu-bin is set to join the Iron Head GC training camp in Palm Springs, California, starting January 4th, and expressed his excitement about participating in the team event alongside captain Kevin Na, Danny Lee, and Koizumi Jinichiro (Japan). He emphasized, "All my teammates are highly skilled, so I just need to play well. I think the team event is something special that only exists in LIV Golf, and I will prepare well to be a player who can help Iron Head GC."
Jang Yu-bin also stated that transferring to LIV Golf does not mean he has given up on his dream of entering the PGA Tour. He said, "I believe there are multiple paths to becoming the world's best player, and one of them is LIV Golf. If the relationship between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour improves, new opportunities will arise. I definitely plan to challenge the PGA Tour someday."
[Im Jeong-woo, Reporter]
