This week\u2019s PGA Tour stop, the first of two straight weeks in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, has become a big week for the South Korea natives on tour.<\/p>\n
The Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, \u200bTexas, is entering its third year of a sponsorship deal with CJ \u200cGroup, a Korean conglomerate that also sponsors several PGA players. Their blue, red and yellow logo appears on Sungjae Im\u2019s hat each week he competes.<\/p>\n
Now called the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, the tournament brings a Korean flair to the heart of Texas. The week is important for CJ Group; \u200cit\u2019s \u200bjust as important to Im.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my third CJ Cup, \u2060and being that it\u2019s my \u2060title sponsor, obviously there\u2019s an added pressure to do well,\u201d Im said Tuesday. \u201cThis course being low-scoring, yielding low scores, obviously I need to go low. So I need to play my best, but excited to be here as the title \u200bsponsor CJ CUP tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n
Im, Si Woo Kim and K.H. Lee are brand ambassadors for CJ and spoke at a joint press conference Tuesday. Lee won this tournament \u2060back-to-back in 2021-22 after countryman Sung-hoon Kang lifted \u2060the trophy in 2019. That, and the fact that Kim and \u200bsome other Korean players make Dallas their home base during the season, made the sponsorship \u200bmake perfect sense for CJ.<\/p>\n
\u201cExcited to be playing here. Then staying \u200chome in my bed is really good,\u201d said Kim, who will be grouped with Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka for the first two rounds.<\/p>\n
TPC Craig Ranch has undergone renovations since last year, when Scheffler ran away with the tournament by tying the PGA \u2060Tour scoring record of 31-under 253.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve heard there\u2019s a lot of renovation,\u201d Lee said. \u201cObviously another renovation, the green complexes. I only got to play nine holes, but a little bit \u2060different, a lot of undulation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI \u200cplayed like three weeks ago one time here, and I \u2060played the new course,\u201d Kim added. \u201cIt\u2019s really changed with all \u200bthe new \u200cgreens. Excited to play. I have to kind of worry \u200babout where \u2060I have to miss.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Korean player has not won on tour since Tom Kim triumphed at the Shriners Children\u2019s Open in October 2023. Tom Kim arrives at TPC Craig Ranch this week after playing a U.S. Open final qualifying tournament Monday at Dallas Athletic Club and coming in second overall, more than enough to earn a spot at next \u200bmonth\u2019s major.<\/p>\n
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