Norman, Oklahoma, United States: Korean Cho Sung-yeop has been named as a recipient of the 2025 Gary Player International Golfer of the Year Award presented by FlightScope.

The Colorado Christian University student was announced as one of five winners by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) in partnership with FlightScope, alongside Spaniard Josele Ballester (Arizona State University), England’s Justin Chan (Carnegie Mellon University) and Jack Whaley (Dalton State College) and Moroccan Adam Bresnu (Odessa College).

The award is given to five outstanding collegiate golfers from outside the United States, one each for NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, as well as NAIA and NJCAA.

In Division II, Cho was one of Colorado Christian’s four PING First Team All-Americans after carding a 69.45 scoring average with six top-five finishes, including in the season’s first five tournaments.

The sophomore from Yeoju-si compiled wins at the 2025 National Preview and Dennis Rose Intercollegiate and finished the season ranked second via Scoreboard powered by Clippd.

Cho, currently 443rd in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, was a 2024 PING NJCAA Division I First Team All-American and GCAA All-Freshman Team member while at Odessa.

On a rare competitive appearance on Asian soil, Cho finished joint eighth in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Gotemba, Japan, last October. His tournament was highlighted by a hole-in-one at the 17th during a final-round 67.

Considered one of golf’s ‘Big Three’ with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, South African Gary Player has left an everlasting impact on golf by being a worldwide ambassador, philanthropist, and golf course designer.

One of only six golfers to win the career Grand Slam, Player has continuously used his position to improve the lives of others in a positive way as a humanitarian and has focused strongly on education for the under-privileged.

He is a member of the Laureus World Sports Academy, which celebrates sport’s ability to create positive change in the world. Player’s career has included 165 professional wins on six continents over seven decades and was acknowledged with being inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974, the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003, the PGA Tour’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Services to Golf in 2012, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2020.

The Gary Player Award is selected by GCAA International member coaches with representation from around the world.