Daebo Housedi Championship tees off Friday in Paju

Kim eyes four titles; Seo seeks to sweep individual awards

Kim Min-sol (left) and Seo Gyo-rim, who have defined the 2026 KLPGA Tour season, carry their fierce rivalry over individual titles into the season finale. [KLPGA]
Kim Min-sol (left) and Seo Gyo-rim, who have defined the 2026 KLPGA Tour season, carry their fierce rivalry over individual titles into the season finale. [KLPGA]

Kim Min-sol and Seo Gyo-rim, the two players who have defined the 2026 KLPGA Tour season, will meet one final time to settle their rivalry. Kim, who holds a commanding lead in the money standings, and Seo, who tops the player-of-the-year points table, will go head-to-head at the season finale with multiple individual titles on the line.

The Daebo Housedi Championship, the KLPGA Tour's season-ending event, runs for three days starting Friday at Seowon Valley Country Club's Seowon Hills West and South courses in Paju, Gyeonggi Province (par 72, 6,649 yards).

The tournament carries a purse of 1.2 billion won ($895,000), with a first-place prize of 300 million won. A field of 60 players — the top 56 in season earnings plus four sponsor exemptions — will compete over 54 holes across three rounds, with no cut.

The money title race is the most closely watched storyline. Kim, who has won three times this season, leads the earnings standings with a cumulative total of 1.6 billion won — the first player in KLPGA Tour history to surpass 1.6 billion won in a single season. Kim also clinched the Rookie of the Year award well before the season's end.

Seo, a four-time winner this season, sits second in earnings at 1.41 billion won. The gap between the two stands at 188.6 million won. Kim will retain the money title regardless of Seo's result as long as she finishes second or better outright.

In the player-of-the-year race, Seo holds the advantage. She leads the Welcome Savings Bank Player of the Year points standings with 563 points, 38 ahead of Kim's 525. The tournament awards points on the same scale as a major — 100 for the winner, 50 for second place and 48 for third.

If Seo finishes in the top 10 and earns points, she will claim the player-of-the-year award unless Kim wins outright. A Kim victory, on the other hand, would give her the title regardless of anyone else's result. Should Seo fall outside the top 10 and earn no points, Kim could overtake her with a finish of tied seventh or better. Even if Kim finishes eighth outright — earning 38 points to draw level with Seo at 563 — Kim would take the award on the tiebreaker of higher season earnings.

For Seo, injury recovery is the key variable. Seo withdrew from the Iceberg Golf-Seoul Shinmun Open and the BMW Ladies Championship last month and sat out last week's S-Oil Championship entirely.

"I've been combining recovery exercises with practice over the past week and I'm feeling much better," Seo said. "I don't expect any problems with my game. I will absolutely defend my lead in the player-of-the-year standings — it belongs to the player who has been the most consistently strong throughout the season."

"There's a little fatigue at this point in the season, but my overall condition is fine," Kim said. "I'm in a title race, but I just want to focus on giving everything I have until the very end."

Lee Ye-won, who won last week's S-Oil Championship, is chasing a fourth consecutive season with at least three wins. [KLPGA]
Lee Ye-won, who won last week's S-Oil Championship, is chasing a fourth consecutive season with at least three wins. [KLPGA]

The two rivals' battle extends to the wins title and the lowest scoring average award. If Kim wins, she would match Seo's four victories and share the wins title, while also locking up the money title, Rookie of the Year and player-of-the-year award — a four-title sweep. Should she also claim the lowest scoring average award, she would become the first player since Shin Ji-yai in 2006 to win five individual titles in a single season.

Seo, too, could complete a four-title sweep — player of the year, money title, wins title and lowest scoring average — if she wins the tournament and overtakes Kim in earnings. Seo currently leads the scoring average category at 70.6405 strokes per round, though Kim and Yoo Hyun-jo remain within striking distance.

Lee Ye-won, who won last week's S-Oil Championship, is chasing a record of her own. A victory this week would make Lee the first player in KLPGA Tour history to win at least three times in four consecutive seasons. Only four players — Ku Ok-hee, Kim Mi-hyun, Shin Ji-yai and Lee herself — have previously managed three wins in three straight seasons.

Last year's champion Hwang Yu-min will not defend her title, as she is competing on the US LPGA Tour. The tournament has served as the KLPGA Tour's season finale since last year, and this year's purse is 200 million won higher than last year's.


yjc@heraldcorp.com