• The visit to South Korea for the first Ballantine’s Championship in 2008 marked the 38th different nation to play host to a European Tour event. South Korea represented the tenth different Asian country to hold a European Tour International Schedule tournament.
• When Bernd Wiesberger won his maiden European Tour title at the 2012 Ballantine’s Championship, he became just the third Austrian to win on The European Tour, following Markus Brier and Martin Wiegele.
• Thongchai Jaidee has an excellent record in the Ballantine’s Championship. He won the event in 2009 and was tied ninth in 2010. Should he win in 2013, he would have won five of his six European Tour events on Asian soil. This would take him level with Ernie Els for the most European Tour wins on Asian soil and one behind Miguel Angel Jiménez, who has six.
• South Korea has seen four different winners on The European Tour. They are: K J Choi (2003 German Masters), Charlie Wi (2006 Maybank Malaysian Open), Y E Yang (2007 (HSBC Champions, 2009 US PGA Championship and 2010 Volvo China Open) and Noh Seung-yul (2010 Maybank Malaysian Open).
• The best finish by a South Korean player in the Ballantine’s Championship was tied second in 2009. Kang Sung-hoon was involved in a play-off with Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño and eventual winner, Thongchai Jaidee. Kang is the only South Korean player to have taken part in a European Tour play-off.
• The Ballantine’s Championship has a place in European Tour history. The 2008 and 2009 editions both were settled via a play-off. This marked the first time that a tournament has witnessed extra holes in its first two years.
• The Blackstone Golf Club, venue for the Ballantine’s Championship since 2011, was named the best new course in South Korea for 2010-2011.
• Marcus Fraser has the best record of all the players that have competed in the Ballantine’s Championship. He won in 2010 and was tied third in 2012. In all there have been nine players who have recorded two top ten finishes.
