Players who left the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association tour for pregnancy, childbirth, injury or illness will be allowed to return to the regular tour at any point during the season under a rule change announced Tuesday.
The KLPGA said its fifth board meeting approved an amendment allowing players to apply for a seed-rights extension — or an extension of their seed ranking — at any time during the season. The previous rule permitted such applications only before 30 percent of the season's official tournaments had been played. The extension period runs one year from the date of application, with a maximum of two years.
The eligibility date for a return has also been revised. Under the old rules, players could only rejoin the tour at the first tournament of a new season. Under the amended rules, they may return starting from the tournament in the week their extension period ends, even if that falls mid-season.
Beginning with the 2027 season, the KLPGA will switch its regular-tour seed criteria from prize-money rankings to points rankings. To align with that change, points accumulated before a player goes on leave will be held in suspension and added to points earned after the player returns.
The association is also introducing a "re-entry support" system that lets returning players compete in up to two Dream Tour events before rejoining the regular tour. The amended rules take effect Jan. 1, 2027 and will not be applied retroactively.
yjc@heraldcorp.com
