Yubin

Jang

There was a deeper significance to Yubin Jang being a part of the Korean men’s team that struck gold at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China (which were contested in September 2023 due to delays following the Covid pandemic).

Any male Korean athlete who wins gold at the Asian Games, or an Olympic medal of any colour, is exempt from the mandatory military service in their country which can take up to 21 months to serve.

Jang was part of a four-man team that dominated the competition to win by 25 strokes over runners-up Thailand at West Lake International Golf Course.

It was perhaps a good taste of things to come as he prepared for life with LIV on the four-man team at Iron Heads.

As a team, Korea completed the tournament a massive 76-under from their combined individual scores after 72 holes of stroke play.

Jang finished in fifth place in the men’s individual event with a four-round score of 22-under while teammates Sungjae Im took silver, Si Woo Kim was fourth and Wooyoung Cho was sixth.

Yubin Jang dominated the 2024 KPGA Korean Tour, in his first full year as a professional golfer.

In addition to being named the Tour’s Player of the Year and topping the money list, his total prize money of around $768,000 was the highest for a single season on the KPGA Tour.

Jang also blitzed the season’s rankings with the longest average drive at 311.35 yards, the most birdies with an average of 4.44 per round, he had the lowest average score per round of 69.41 and enjoyed the joint most tournament wins with two.

The first of those came in July’s Gunsan Open, in which Jang teed-off as the defending champion having won at Gunsan Country Club as an amateur in 2023.

Beginning the final round as the overnight leader, he made a stumbling start with a double-bogey on the par-5 second hole followed by a bogey on the par-4 third.

Jang then showed his resilience and determination, fighting back with an eagle on the par-5 ninth and a run of two birdies across the final five holes to finish the round with a 71, 16-under for the tournament and two strokes ahead of runner-up Hanmil Yung.

But at the 2024 Busan Open in October, it was a much tighter affair.

After the first two rounds, Jang was tied at the top of the leaderboard at 9-under, alongside Heemin Chang.

Incredibly both then shot 2-over-par 73s in the third round and 3-under-par 68s in the final round.

The tournament was decided with a playoff on the 18th hole, Jang draining his putt for a winning birdie at the first attempt.

Playing 21 of the 22 KPGA events, Jang was a winner twice, secured the runner-up spot five times and including his tournament wins was placed in the top 10 on 11 occasions.

By being No.1 in the Order of Merit (the Genesis Points table) he earned promotion to the 2025 DP World Tour but forfeited that right by accepting his place with the LIV Golf League.

Iron Heads captain Kevin Na had been speaking with Yubin Jang for over a year before getting him to commit to the LIV Golf League.

In between that time he had been keeping up with his tournament play by streaming KPGA events on TV late at night.

“Yubin’s the next best Korean born player,” Na told Fairway To Heaven, LIV Golf’s official podcast.

“He’s got an incredible golf swing, he’s got a good build, he’s about 6ft 1in which is pretty tall for a Korean.”

So what impressed Na the most while watching on TV?

“The way he was when he was in contention and under pressure, how calm he looked and how chill he looked and some of the shots that he hit,” Na said.

“The only downside I saw or something that could be better was his game management and part of that is being young.

“I looked into who his caddie was, I said, ‘Is he a professional caddie, is he a friend?’ and I found out that it was just a friend and that made a lot of sense.

“I felt like this guy with the right help on the course with the right caddie and with the potential that he has, that he can become a world class player.”

Na asked Jang to make himself available to play in last December’s Saudi International on the Asian Tour and in the first two rounds, Na, Iron Heads teammate Danny Lee and Jang were in the same tee group.

“It was really nice to see his game live and up close,” Na said.

“Danny and I just looked at each other and said, yeah this is what we expected, this is the Yubin Jang that we saw on TV and that we heard about.

Na added with a smile: “I think it also will help the veterans on the team to work a little harder, play a little better, because we don’t want to get our ass kicked by some 22-year-old.”

Yubin Jang was born in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea on June 11, 2002, and began playing golf seriously at the age of seven, with the support of grandmother Hwaja Cha.

Cha is a former national tennis player who dedicated 15 years of her life to helping her grandson realize his dream.

That included moving house three times to environments where he could progress his golf game while still receiving a good education.

“I don’t think I’d be what I am now if it wasn’t for my grandmother’s sacrifice,” Jang told Korean daily paper Maekyung.

“In the future, I will continue to do my best and practice a life of giving as taught.”

Jang completed his studies at the Korea National Sport University in Seoul.

Yubin Jang was one of the Titleist sponsored players on the Korean Tour through 2024.

In his golf bag were the Titleist TSR3 driver (9-degree loft) with a TSR3 Fairway wood (15-degree).

His irons were split among three Titleist models, 718 T-MB (2 and 3-iron), 620 CB (4 and 5-iron) and 620 MB (6 to 9-iron).

Up next were three Vokey Design SM10 wedges (46, 52 and 58-degree) and completing his collection was a choice between two Scotty Cameron putters, the Phantom 5S or the Super Select Golo 6.

His choice of ball, like so many others, is the Titleist Pro V1x.