Korea’s MK Kim and China’s Haotong Li fired matching six-under-par rounds of 65 to share the first-round lead at the Genesis Championship on Thursday.
At the Woo Jeong Hills Country Club, Li set the early clubhouse target with a flawless, bogey-free round, before being joined by Kim, who produced eight birdies in a confident start to his campaign.
Li, already a four-time DP World Tour winner following his triumph at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters earlier this season, remains focused on securing dual membership with the PGA TOUR. A strong finish on the Race to Dubai Rankings could earn him one of ten available PGA TOUR cards at the end of the season.
Kim, meanwhile, is eyeing a third victory at Woo Jeong Hills, having lifted the Kolon Korea Open trophy there in 2022 and 2024. The 24-year-old Korean continues to build on a remarkable career that began when he became the youngest winner in European Tour group history at the 2017 D+D REAL Czech Challenge.
Spain’s Alejandro del Rey sits one shot back after a five-under-par 66, while a group of seven players including Laurie Canter, Ewen Ferguson, and Elvis Smylie, all 2025 Race to Dubai champions trail by two strokes on four under.
The Genesis Championship serves as the final regular event of the DP World Tour season, with the top 110 players on the Race to Dubai Rankings securing their cards for 2026. Accounting for five “in addition” exemptions, the effective cut line extends to 115th place, currently held by Bernd Wiesberger, who opened with a two-over-par 73.
Player Reactions
Haotong Li:
“I’m very pleased to finish like this, especially with a couple of crucial up-and-downs over the last four holes. The greens are fast and tricky; you really have to place the ball well off the tee. The points list for PGA TOUR cards is tight, but I’ll just keep focusing on my game and trust the results will follow.”
MK Kim:
“I’m really happy with today’s round. I holed a bunker shot and made a lot of putts that’s what made the difference. The course is in great condition and familiar to me, and the fans’ support really lifts my spirits.”
Alejandro del Rey:
“It was great to get off to a quick start. My game has been close for a while, so it’s satisfying to finally post a good number. It’s a challenging course long, tricky, and demanding but I’ll try to keep this momentum going.”
About DP World
DP World is reshaping the future of global trade to improve lives everywhere. Operating across six continents with a team of over 100,000 employees, we combine global infrastructure and local expertise to deliver seamless supply chain solutions. From Ports and Terminals to Marine Services, Logistics and Technology, we leverage innovation to create better ways to trade, minimizing disruptions from the factory floor to the customer’s door.
Our global sports partnerships in Golf, Cricket, Formula 1 and Sailing showcase our leadership in supply chain transformation. From delivering SailGP to supporting the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup and The Ryder Cup, DP World simplifies logistics, drives performance and changes what’s possible.
WE MAKE TRADE FLOW
About the DP World Tour
The DP World Tour is the main men’s professional golf tour of the European Tour group.
As golf’s global tour, we showcase global talent in global destinations and use our platform to build, entertain and connect our global community.
GLOBAL TALENT: We provide pathways and a platform for the leading international talent, bringing together golfing icons, national heroes and emerging stars from around the world.
GLOBAL DESTINATIONS: We stage tournaments in iconic cities and locations around the world and each week we celebrate and showcase the rich diversity of the courses, cities and cultures we visit.
GLOBAL COMMUNITY: We build, entertain and connect communities through our commitment to innovation, creative content and having a positive social and environmental impact.
Our 2025 Global Schedule features 42 tournaments in 26 different countries and comprises three distinct phases: five ‘Global Swings’, the ‘Back 9’ and the ‘DP World Tour Play-Offs’. It features five Rolex Series events – the premium category of events on the DP World Tour – and four Major Championships, all of which count towards the Race to Dubai Rankings, the Tour’s season-long competition which concludes at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
DP World, the leading provider of global smart end-to-end supply chain and logistics solutions, has been the title partner of the DP World Tour since the start of the 2022 season, the Tour’s 50th season following its formation in 1972.
We also enjoy the support of many of the world’s leading business brands with DP World, Rolex, Aldar, BMW, Buffalo Trace Distillery, Emirates, Fortinet and Vestas as Official Partners.
About the European Tour group
The European Tour group administers the DP World Tour, the HotelPlanner Tour, the Legends Tour and the G4D Tour and, as the Managing Partner of Ryder Cup Europe LLP, stages golf’s greatest team contest, the Ryder Cup, in partnership with the PGA of America.
The European Tour group has Strategic Partnerships with the PGA TOUR, the Sunshine Tour, the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, the China Golf Association (CGA), the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO), the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA), and the TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India. These partnerships provide global pathways for players from across the world to compete internationally on the DP World Tour, the main men’s professional golf Tour of the European Tour group which was established in 1972, as well as the HotelPlanner Tour.
