LIV Golf riches up for grabs in Abu Dhabi as players battle for places – 3 will succeed
- Wade Ormsby, Kieran Vincent and Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho among those who could earn spots through the LIV Golf Promotions event at Abu Dhabi Golf Club
- Those who get in could be joined by Jon Rahm, who is being linked with a switch from the PGA Tour to the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV in 2024
As rumours surrounding the future of Jon Rahm and several other high-profile PGA Tour players swirl, some of golf’s lesser-known talents are in Abu Dhabi this week battling it out to potentially join the Spaniard in the LIV League next season.
Rahm has been linked with a move to the Saudi Arabia-backed outfit in 2024, and his continued silence has only fuelled speculation that he will take the US$600m reportedly on offer to make the switch.
A report in The Telegraph in the UK has also suggested Jason Day and Adrian Meronk could join this year’s Masters winner, with a new team expected to be added to the league.
There has been plenty of movement already this off-season, with Graeme McDowell – one of those who fell into the relegation spots at the end of the season, putting his LIV career in doubt – joining Brooks Koepka’s Smash Golf Club side.
And on Wednesday, Carlos Ortiz and David Puig switched teams, even if LIV did not go so far as to call it a trade.
Ortiz and Puig, who finished 15th and 31st respectively in the individual standings, were both considered free agents, so were free to sign with any team.
The 32-year-old Ortiz rejected a contract extension offer from Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC, and has joined fellow Mexican Joaquin Niemann, who captains Torque GC.
Puig, meanwhile, will team up with countryman Garcia on Fireballs. Puig, who joined LIV when he turned professional last year, will be 22 on Thursday.
While Puig, Ortiz and the others already have their spots, the likes of Wade Ormsby, Kieran Vincent and Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho will battle it out to join them in the LIV Golf Promotions event at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
The three-day, four-round tournament, which starts on Friday, has three places in the LIV League up for grabs, a potentially life-changing prize for those involved.
Ormsby knows what is at stake. The four-time Asian Tour winner was a member of the Punch GC team playing in the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series in 2022, and was reserve for the all-Australian Ripper GC team in this year’s inaugural LIV Golf League.
“I had a taste of it in 2022 and I want more of it, so it is up to me to grab one of those three spots, it is about putting my best foot forward,” he said. “It is an exciting format, it is shorter and faster and the camaraderie among the players and teams is completely different to what I have experienced before.
“Definitely that team aspect, I have experienced that at Punch and now Ripper GC, and that was a lot of fun. Pulling for your mates is a different feel to looking after yourself. Put all that together and it is pretty exciting and a lot of fun.”
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Vincent, meanwhile, has watched his brother Scott not only win a place on the circuit by topping the International Series order of merit in 2022, but also then keep it by finishing in the top 24 of the standings.
The up-and-coming Zimbabwean comfortably secured his place in the field by finishing fourth in the order of merit, with those ranked two to eight gaining exemption into the second round.
That means the 25-year-old will join the top 20 and ties from Friday’s first round in a Saturday shoot-out, with the top 20 from the second round progressing further to a final day.
Sunday will consist of two rounds with all scores resetting to zero ahead of the first of 36 holes.
“Ask me a year ago and I would think it mad that I would have the opportunity to play on LIV,” said Kieran Vincent, who only turned professional last June. “To be in this position at this point of my career, is just a huge advantage compared to where I thought I would be at this stage.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
