Jang Yu-bin Returns to KPGA Tour: What to Expect in 2026 Season?

Jang Yu-bin / Photo: KPGA

[Sports Today reporter Lee Sang-pil] Jang Yu-bin (24, Shinhan Financial Group) is set to return to the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA) Tour.

Jang owns three KPGA Tour titles — the 2023 KPGA Gunsan CC Open (won as an amateur) and two 2024 victories at the KPGA Gunsan CC Open and the Beksong Holdings–Asiad CC Busan Open — and will rejoin the KPGA Tour this year.

Smiling, Jang admitted it feels a little strange to greet Korean fans after such a long absence. \”I’m grateful to announce my return to the KPGA Tour,\” she said. \”I’m training hard for the season and thinking of the fans who have consistently supported me.\”

Jang won the team gold in golf at the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games in October 2023 and then turned professional. In her second year as a pro in 2024, she added two more titles. That season she played 21 KPGA events, posting two wins, five runner-up finishes and 11 top-10s.

On the strength of that campaign, she earned ₩1,129,047,083 (about $846,785) in 2024 alone, becoming the first player in KPGA Tour history to surpass ₩1 billion (about $750,000) in a single season. Jang swept six honors that year: the Genesis Grand Prize, Genesis money title, the Deokchun Award (lowest stroke total), Most Improved Player (M.I.P.), the Top-10 Finish Award and the Long Drive Award.

Jang opted to challenge LIV Golf in the 2025 season, but said last season’s results were disappointing. \”I’m embarrassed and sorry to be announcing a return after such a poor showing,\” she said, recounting that her driving distance fell early in the LIV season and she couldn’t generate the ball speed she expected. Traveling on overseas tours made it difficult to get consistent coaching, which created many challenges.

Still, she said playing alongside world-class competitors taught her a great deal. She singled out Cameron Smith’s course management and composure under pressure as particularly impressive, saying watching him reinforced the gap she wants to close and served as strong motivation.

From January through mid-February, Jang spent about a month training in Vietnam before returning to Korea to ramp up preparations for her KPGA comeback. On Feb. 21 she attended the 2026 Maeil Business Newspaper Golf Expo and met domestic fans for the first time in a while.

Ahead of her domestic return after a year away, Jang said she took roughly two months off after the season and then went to training camp. She concentrated on swing issues she couldn’t correct last season and on regaining lost distance and ball speed. Restoring her feel with the driver was one of her main goals.

She added that she worked hard to regain the form she had on the 2024 KPGA Tour. By the end of the training camp she felt her game had largely returned and that she has a clear plan moving forward. Her immediate goal is to fully recover her distance as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Jang plans to compete on both the KPGA Tour and the Asian Tour International Series during the 2026 season.

[Sports Today reporter Lee Sang-pil sports@stoo.com]
「Closest, most entertaining news ⓒ Sports Today」