Golfer Yang Yong-eun will start this year with the Sony Open, the PGA Tour's first full-field event, which will be held in Hawaii this week.
He has been playing in Japan since last year.
Yang achieved an unexpected triumph at the PGA Championship in 2009, beating Tiger Woods to claim a major title, but has been on a downhill trajectory since then, losing his PGA Tour card and struggling with neck and back injuries.
But things started to turn around last year when he won the Crowns in Japan in April, his first win since the Kolon Korea Open in October 2010.
Yang lives a 30-minute drive from the venue for the Sony Open, Waialae Country Club on the island of Oahu. He has been practicing there since the end of last year to prepare for the event. "As I had one win last season, I'd like to achieve another win this year. But my real goal is to have no more injuries," Yang said.
Yang, who once weighed 90 kg, slimmed down to 81 kg last year and plans to lose another 3 kg this year.
Some 144 players will compete at the Sony Open, including Yang's compatriots Bae Sang-moon and Kim Si-woo.