South Korean underwriter that failed to pay has long history with LPGA

Over the weekend, LPGA legend Seri Pak weighed in on the cancelation of her namesake event – the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship – scheduled for March in Palos Verdes Estates, California. The Instagram translation of Pak’s post raised eyebrows on this side of the Atlantic, though it’s not quite what it appears.

Pak opens the statement by expressing gratitude to those who have shown concern and reiterated her mission to provide a platform for LPGA players to compete. She goes on to talk about the LA fires and the desire to reschedule the Palos Verdes event.

In the fourth paragraph, the Instagram translation read: “However, I sincerely hope that the honor of those involved will not be tarnished due to malicious, malicious unverified facts related to LPGA’s official announcement.”

The gist of Pak’s Instagram message, however – according to several Korean speakers who translated the original for Golfweek – is not a slap against the LPGA but rather a warning to Korean media.

The paragraph could be read as: “However, I sincerely hope that the honor (or reputation) of all the stakeholders will not be tarnished by the malicious, defamatory articles based on unverified facts related to the LPGA’s official announcement.”

The tour’s official announcement, released on Friday, notes that the event’s cancelation was due to the underwriter’s failure to make payments for the 2024 and 2025 events.

A statement by interim commissioner Liz Moore made sure to note to that title sponsor Fir Hills and tournament operator Outlyr were not the problem.

“We are deeply disappointed to announce this year’s Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship will not go forward in March,” said Moore. “We apologize for the impact this has on our players, as well as on our fans, partners and volunteers. We also want to express our heartfelt gratitude to the staff and members at Palos Verdes Golf Club, Palos Verdes Estates, and tournament operator, Outlyr, for their exceptional partnership and hospitality.

“It is our intention to return to Palos Verdes in the future to host title sponsor, Fir Hills, once again alongside these great partners. We remain dedicated to bringing this event back to our schedule to honor the incredible legacy of Seri Pak, who has been a wonderful ambassador for the game and this event.”

Multiple sources confirmed to Golfweek that JTBC, a South Korean television company, is the underwriter in question, though when asked, the LPGA would not comment.

JTBC’s media rights deal with the LPGA dates back to the Carolyn Bivens era as commissioner, which officially went into effect in 2010, when Mike Whan was in charge. The original deal, outlined in an LPGA press release in 2009, included JTBC underwriting an event on the LPGA in Southern California as well as title sponsoring the 2009 Phoenix LPGA International.

The JTBC media rights deal is unusual in that the LPGA gets a sum of money and a set number of events, and then in turn, JTBC can recoup some of that money by selling the benefits of the event to a third party at its discretion.

More: LPGA to lose $2 million in 2024 after adding staff, attempting to increase exposure

The JTBC name has been attached to a number of tournaments over the years, such as the Hugel-JTBC LA Open, which later became the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open. From 2014 to 2016, the tour held the JTBC Founders Cup in Phoenix. Sometimes JTBC would appear in the title, and sometimes, as in the case of Fir Hills, it wouldn’t.

The LPGA would then use JTBC’s media rights money for its general operating budget.

This year’s Fir Hills event, slated for March 20-23, was scheduled to be held at Palos Verdes Golf Club and feature a $2 million purse. The total cost of title-sponsoring the event, however, would’ve exceeded the value of the purse, likely around $3 million. World No. 1 Nelly Korda won last year’s edition.

Losing a full-field event is always a massive blow to the tour, particularly one so early in the season when starts are limited.

South Korean media rights have long been essential to the tour’s health. With South Korea’s political crisis weakening its economy and a key stakeholder failing to pay its bills, there’s certainly cause for concern.

Golfweek reached out to JTBC for comment but has not yet heard back.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Seri Pak weighs in on cancellation of her namesake LPGA event