LIV Golf simply added a brand new participant by way of Promotions occasion

LIV Golf has added a brand new member.

The league staged a 36-hole shootout finale to its Promotions occasion on Saturday in Saudi Arabia, crowning a single winner from a qualifying event that had begun with 92 gamers. Chieh-po Lee, a 30-year-old Asian Tour professional who typically goes by “Max,” was low man on the day, beating out a global crowd that included a mixture of ex-LIV professionals, Asian Tour abilities and a well known American former PGA Tour professional.

The sphere had been reduce to twenty gamers for Saturday’s back-to-back rounds at Riyadh Golf Membership, and Lee shot seven-under 64 within the morning to take a two-stroke lead. Then he shot three below within the afternoon, cementing issues with a birdie on the par-3 seventeenth to earn his manner onto LIV for the primary time. He’ll be the primary Taiwanese participant on LIV.

“It means quite a bit to me as a result of I used to be taking part in on the Asian Tour a few years, and LIV Golf, I believe it’s each participant’s purpose, each participant’s goal,” Lee mentioned. LIV has maintained a relationship with the Asian Tour, funding its affiliated Worldwide Sequence and selling the winner of that Sequence to LIV. “On the LIV Tour, each participant I believe could be very sturdy. I believe I can study one thing. I’ll study one thing.”

LIV’S RELEGATED PROS

Lee’s promotion marks the tip of the highway — for now, at the very least — for a number of of LIV’s relegated gamers. Branden Grace, Kieran Vincent, Scott Vincent, Kalle Samooja and Bubba Watson have been reduce on the finish of the LIV season however had the prospect to earn their manner again in by way of the Promotions occasion. Grace got here the closest, ending T2 at eight below par. They’ll every get exemptions into the Worldwide Sequence on the Asian Tour for 2025.

A “BUSINESS CASE”?

There’s nonetheless yet one more lifeline out there for at the very least two of these professionals, although. LIV has acknowledged that, ought to a workforce make a “enterprise case” to maintain a relegated participant, he may return for the next season. It’s thought that Watson, who didn’t play the Promotions occasion, will probably be again as captain of the Vary Goats — Masters champs are usually good for enterprise. However LIV additionally talked about in its post-Promotions launch that Grace could possibly be again by way of enterprise case, too. Time will inform for the two-time PGA Tour winner, who has performed on the all-South African Stinger GC.

OLLIE’S BID

The week additionally marked a detailed name for Ollie Schniederjans, an American professional who spent a number of years as an up-and-coming expertise on the PGA Tour. Schniederjans final performed on Tour in 2019 — the place you’ll bear in mind him because the proprietor of a improbable stinger, plus because the uncommon professional who performed with no hat — he’s been out and in of the Korn Ferry Tour the final a number of seasons and confirmed he nonetheless has loads of recreation in taking part in his approach to Saturday and ending T4 at 5 below par.

“I’m very assured about the place the whole lot is heading, however to come back out and do — I needed to hit a number of cool putts and photographs below strain, so it was very nice to see that,” Schniederjans mentioned. “It did give me much more confidence. However I’ve a number of confidence in my future.”

He’ll have the choice of taking part in the Worldwide Sequence because of his top-10 end. Australians Brett Coletta and Jack Buchanan, who tied for fourth at 5 below, Germany’s Max Rottluff, who completed solo seventh at 4 below and Korea’s Soomin Lee and England’s David Horsey, who completed T-8 at three below may also earn Worldwide Sequence exemptions.

It’s unclear which LIV workforce Lee will land on; it’s been a comparatively quiet begin to the league’s free company interval.

WHAT NOW FOR LIV’S PROMOTIONS?

It’s additionally unclear what the way forward for the Promotions occasion will probably be. It was first contested final season, ostensibly as a approach to appease the Official World Golf Rating’s critique that LIV was a closed store. There have been three spots out there final season however, after LIV deserted its quest for OWGR factors, only one this 12 months. Two of final 12 months’s promoted professionals — Kalle Samooja and Kieran Vincent — have been relegated at 12 months’s finish, whereas the third, Jinichiro Kozuma, completed forty fifth on the Order of Advantage. LIV’s rosters are principally crammed by way of free company, so mixing in these promoted professionals can complicate workforce building.

As LIV’s backer, the Saudi PIF, stays in discussions with the PGA Tour, the league preps for its 2025 season. The primary occasion will probably be again at Riyadh Golf Membership on Feb. 6-8.